Part of a Family
by Skillet Lord
Summary: You all know the story. Naruto finds his life turned upside down when he's banished from Konoha and somehow ends up in a continent with no shinobi. After trading in his chakra for magical power, Naruto goes on new adventures with a guild called Fairy Tail. And along the way, he realizes he's missing something he always felt in Konoha. Loneliness.
1. The Land of Fiore

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. If I did then the Grand Magic Games Arc would have been less confusing.**

 **Ikō: I'll tell you what's confusing Skillet. What this story is doing here?**

 **Greed: Why are writing this clichéd ol' thing when you should be writing Ninja of Santoryu?**

 **Skillet: Because-**

 **Cedric: Or the sequel to my story?**

 **Skillet: Beca-**

 **Maya: Or that Assassination Classroom story you were working on?**

 **Skillet: Because! I want to have some variety in my stories. I know it's clichéd, but so was Ninja of Santoryu. I made that work by putting my own spin and style on the subject.**

 **Cedric: Arguably. Voodoo's Disciple is much better…Or at least the rewrite was.**

 **Skillet: Kiss my ass. It's not as if I'm giving up my other stories or anything.**

 **Greed: He's just bothered that it's Rated T.**

 **Cedric: Have you read the damn summary? This is gonna flop, mark my words!**

 **Skillet: We'll see.**

 **Chapter 1: The Land of Fiore**

* * *

In a land far far away, lies the kingdom of Fiore: a small peaceful nation of 17 million, and a place filled with magic. To most magic is a tool, a mundane part of everyday life. For some, however, magic is an art, and they have devoted their lives to its practice. These men and women are known are mages. Banded together into magical guilds, they use their power for fame and fortune.

Many of these guilds dot the landscape of Fiore. But there is a certain guild in a certain town that soars high above the rest, one from which countless legends have been born. A guild that will no doubt continue to make legends, well into the future: Fairy Tail…

However we haven't actually gotten to that part of the story yet. The child we're focusing on right now isn't even a mage, but rather an ex-shinobi of a land far southeast of Fiore. He was banished from his former home after a successful mission backfired, much to the protest of his friends.

For those of you who probably already know what happened by now, I'll cut to the chase. Our story begins on the docks of Hargeon, a port town in southern Fiore "Hey guys, you're not going to believe what I just found!" A nearby fisherman announced to his co-workers as he pulled up his peculiar catch.

"For the last time Fabby, just because the fish is shiny doesn't mean it's valuable!" Another came over to see what he talking about before seeing what he'd fished out of the ocean. A young blond boy in a messy orange jumpsuit who appeared to half dead "What did you do?"

"Why are you automatically assuming it's my fault?"

"Because most things are your fault!"

As the two fisherman bickered, Naruto awoke in a coughing fit to see he was hanging over the ocean from a fishing pole "Wait a minute! What the hell is going on here?" Upon hearing the supposed corpse scream out in horror, the fishermen both double taked back and accidentally dropped him back in.

"So the gaki was alive after all?"

"At least he was."

Naruto swam back the shore and began coughing up the sea water he'd swallowed while at sea. As far as he could tell his small boat had capsized upon coming across an ocean storm. He looked around in confusion, as the way of living and architecture was very different than what he was used too.

"Where the hell am I?" Naruto asked himself in shock as he tried to absorb his new surroundings.

"Hey gaki, you ok over there!" One of the fisherman asked as they ran up to him on the shore "You looked like a drowned fox when we pulled you out of the water.

"I'm fine, but I just wanna know where I am." Naruto explained himself and his reasoning "Nothing looks like it did before. Did I die and this is the afterlife?"

Seeing the opportunity to have some fun, the other fisherman said with mischievous grin "You're right gaki, this is the afterlife and we are the Tormentors of Hell." In response to his teasing, the man hit him upside the head with his fishing pole.

"Shut up dumbass, can't you see he's been through enough already!" The man scolded his co-worker before observing Naruto and arriving to a conclusion "You look like your from Shang. Now what are you doing all the way in Ishgar?"

When he said this Naruto immediately took on expression of absolute horror, before screaming loudly enough to grab the attention of most of those at the port "YOU'VE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME! THAT DAMN STORM TOOK ME ALL THE WAY TO ISHGAR!"

"Fiore specifically; you're from a few continents down, quite frankly I'm surprised you're still alive."

"No way. No! No! No!" The blonde ex-ninja gripped his head to keep it from exploding due to shock, before running off into Hargeon.

"Hey kid where are you going?"

Naruto ignored him and kept running, thoughts of anguish racing around his head _'How could things have gone so wrong! I just completed my mission and kept my promise, but they kicked me out and now I'm halfway across the world! This is such a drag! And now I'm talking like Shikamaru all of the sudden!'_ Naruto was quickly interrupted from the distraught monologue when he ran into somebody else on the path.

He looked up to see three thuggish looking men with various deformities and scars covering their bodies. The most distinct quality each of them held was a strange red mark that looked like a goblin with flames coming from the top of its head. The man who appeared to be the leader, a tall fellow with long and bushy white hair with red eyebrows and a soul patch stepped forward with a menacing scowl.

"Watch where you're going you little brat. You wouldn't want to make me mad would you. I doubt anyone would miss a stupid little shit like you." The man growled while glaring down at the blond teenager.

Naruto was intimidated for a brief moment, before working up the nerve to shoot back "The only thing stupid here is your haircut old man! Don't make death threats in public, especially not to a ninja!"

"Oh, you're a ninja are you? Now I'm scared; practically shaking in my boots." The man grew a menacing grin and picked up Naruto by the collar of his soggy jumpsuit.

"Kill that gaki already Yeto! That's show what happens when you mess with Burningbane Goblin!" Another man said excitedly before he noticed a crowd forming around them "Eyes to yourself people, or else you'll be kissing pavement like the kid!"

Immediately after he was forcibly picked up by Yeto, Naruto quickly began doing the hand seal for his signature Kage Bushin no Jutsu. But to his surprise and horror, nothing came to fruition _'What's going on? Where's my Bushin?!'_ His terrified state only increased when Yeto hold him up toward the other two thugs with a sadistic smirk.

"Who wants a crack at the kid first?" Yeto asked his cohorts as both evilly chuckled and somehow formed dark green and yellow circles with strange patterns around them formed from their hands. However before anything else could happen, a voice rang out from not far away.

 **"Purple Flare"**

Before they could fire on Naruto, a large whip of what seemed to be purple fire shot out and hit one of the thugs into a nearby building. This distracted the others long enough for them to set down Naruto and their strange circle of light. What appeared to be the source of this was a blue haired man in his early thirties who also had the strange circle of light around his hands, though it appeared to be purple. He wore khaki slacks, a blue t-shirt, and had noticeable stubble on his face.

Next to him was a man around the same age with a brown pompadour with a cigarette wearing a brown jacket with an orange undershirt, and dark sunglasses. He proceeded to speak in a gravely voice "Honestly, it's X777 and you punks still can't get your act together for shame."

"What do you legals know? The only thing your good for is being the council's lapdog!" Yeto yelled at the man before ordering his comrade that was still conscious "Ujem, kill that bastard or I'll kill you!"

"Y-yes sir!" Ujem stuttered out before before attacking clumps of mud at the pompadoured one who continued to smoke only for a pink version of the circle to glow from his cigarette and form a wall of smoke which blocked the attack.

 **"Mud Shot"**

 **"Smoke Wall"**

"What the hell is-"

 **"Smoke Crush"**

Before Ujem could comprehend what happened, numerous fists fist shot out from the wall and pounded him around. The thug fell back into unconsciousness, leaving only Yeto to stand and fight "You weaklings can't even handle a few legals? Fine then, I'll handle it myself! Starting with the brat!" Yeto formed an icy blue circle before aiming it at Naruto.

 **"Ice Magic: Freezer Burn"**

 **"Kage Bushin no Jutsu"**

Naruto immediately jumped out of the attack's path, and when he landed, five Kage Bushin suddenly formed nearby "Where the hell did you come from, and why didn't you show up earlier?"

"What the-This little shit just performed a duplication spell without a magic circle! Is he a Mage too?" Yeto said in shock before the group of Naruto began to charge him.

"I don't know who you are, but you picked the wrong guy to mess with. Now you're going to get yours!" Naruto gave the man a hard right cross on his face his face and sent him reeling into a trio of clones who kicked him into the air. In one final move, the real Naruto gave Yeto a heel drop to the face, sending him crashing to the ground.

 **"Uzumaki Combo Attack"**

 **"Purple Net"**

As Yeto fell to the ground, the blue haired man ensnared him a net of more purple fire while the other grabbed his cohorts "Well that was an easy job. Let's turn these punks in and collect the reward money!"

"Good call, but there's something we need to take care of first." The blue haired man turned and faced Naruto with a glare, only to extend his hand with a smile "That was impressive work you did there gaki, my name's Macao Conbolt. I didn't even see you do a magic circle."

"Magic…circle…?"

"Look at him Macao, he's probably from the Shang continent." The other man noticed Naruto's confusion and pointed it out to Macao.

"So he's probably a ninja and uses chakra. Where's you hitai-te?"

 _'I can't tell anybody I was banished, they'll just treat like how it was before.'_ Naruto panicked internally before putting on a fake smile "I turned it in when I retired a few days ago. So what's all this stuff about magic anyways?"

"Well it's kind of like your chakra but it requires magic circles instead of hand signs. Their not very compatible with each other so if you try to use jutsu with magic this continent's air there's probably going to be a delay." Macao tried to explain the situation "We have something called guilds where Mages like us work together to earn money. Me and Wakaba are part of the Fairy Tail guild."

"Were those jerks part of a Mage guild too?" Naruto asked in reference to the unconscious men nearby.

"Not quite, they're members of Burningbane Goblin, a dark guild. They've been running a so-called protection racket around Hargeon so we were called to kick their asses." Wakaba explained more about the situation, though it only left Naruto more confused.

"Dark…Guild…Sounds kind of like Orochimaru-teme's dump too me."

"Dark guilds are ones that haven't been approved by the Magic Council, and are involved in illegal jobs and rule violations. Anything from drug trafficking to acts of terrorism. You don't want to mess with them." Macao darkly explained while picking up the unconscious dark mages and facing Naruto "You said you're not a part of your old village anymore right. Why not join Fairy Tail with us?"

"Now hold on a minute Macao, don't you think with Cana, Erza, and Gray the guild has enough crazy kids running around? Besides with the kid's chakra delayed he could get himself killed if he took a job!" Wakaba tried to dissuade Macao from the decision.

"You seem to forgetting that our Master is one of the very few mages who can convert chakra to magical power." Macao reminded his friend before turning his attention back to Naruto "So what do you say, wanna join Fairy Tail?"

 _'Should I…They seem nice but what if they find out about…It could end up just like…'_ Naruto once again got lost in thought before Wakaba pointed something out.

"Before we head back to guild, we should at least get the kid some better clothes. He's gonna stick out like a sore thumb walking around in those rags."

* * *

The train ride to the town called Magnolia took about 3 hours before they reached town and arrived at the Fairy Tail guild. To Naruto, it felt like getting rid of his old jumpsuit was like getting rid of the last pieces of his old home. He now wore a black t-shirt with an orange spiral in the middle, and a pair of jeans.

After a bit of walking they stopped in front of a multi-floored old building with pagoda style roofs and a dome at the top and a sign that read _Fairy Tail_ in front of the entrance "This is the guild hall; we'll let you talk to the Master before you decide to join."

"Alright." Naruto stood still observing the guild, while Macao and Wakaba went inside to let him absorb his new surroundings "Everything is going so fast. What if they hate me too."

Before Naruto could ponder his situation any further, a blonde teenager with a scar over his right eye and headphones on "Hey kid, move out of way. If you've got business with us take care of it and get the hell out!" The man stomped away in clear bad mood, to Naruto's irritation.

"Great another sulky jerk. Guess every continent has people like that." Naruto scowled at his attitude.

"You'll have to forgive my grandson. I did something that made him mad a few days ago, so anything he does is my fault." An old voice said from behind him. Naruto jumped around to see a diminutive old man with a balding head white hair and a mustache, wearing a blue coast and brown hat and holding a large walking staff "I'm Makarov Dreyar, the third master of Fairy Tail. You must be the shinobi child I heard about."

"Well former shinobi, I kind of retired a few days ago before I got completely lost and ended up in Fiore." Naruto hastily tried to explain, worried Makarov would assume the worst if he was told of his banishment.

However Makarov was a wise old man and saw right through his bluff "Oh really? Are you sure you weren't banished by your village?" Naruto blanched as he feared the worst, and no choice to explain what happened.

Makarov listened carefully to the tale of Naruto's life, slowly nodding as Naruto recounted before speaking up on the story's end "I see so Konoha banished you for injuring a traitor. But what I don't understand if why they would they do such a thing. Normally traitors are harshly punished in the Elemental Villages."

"Well, the guy who left was kind of a big shot clan heir in the village, so the council's advisors practically worship the ground he walks on. And as for me…they've always had it for me but I only learned why a few months ago." Naruto said as he lifted up his shirt to reveal the seal that branded him all his life "I've got a demon sealed inside me. The Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked the village on the day I was born."

"I see…there's only one thing I can do about that then." Makarov stroked his chin before suddenly hitting Naruto where his seal was, sending him flying a few feet back.

"What the hell was that for you old fart?"

"Take another look at the seal on your stomach child." Naruto followed the order to find something shocking. The chakra seal that once existed there had now been replaced by a red magic circle "The seal wouldn't have held for much longer with the strength of chakra weakened in Fiore's air. So I put an extra layer of protection up to counteract the effects."

Naruto brushed the dust off his clothing and noticed that the magic circle was slowly spinning around "It also converts your chakra into magic, but you should still be able to perform most of your old techniques. But they'll be in the form of spells instead of jutsu, not to mention you'll have your own type of magic based off your chakra nature."

"Chakra…nature…Sorry I wasn't really told about a lot of this before I left." Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"You really are a clueless child aren't you?" Makarov groaned in exasperation before facing the guild "Well, it's rather difficult to get from Shang to Ishgar, quite frankly I'm surprised you survived the first time. I suppose you're free to do what you want now, but just know the doors of the Fairy Tail guild are always welcome to those in need."

Naruto gave the old man a grin in response to his offer "Thanks Jiisan, I think I'll join Fairy Tail. I mean it's not as if I really have anywhere to back to."

"Good to hear. Welcome to the guild my child."

* * *

"So you're saying there might be some new guy joining the guild?" A dark haired boy around Naruto's age asked Macao, who was currently drinking whiskey with Wakaba nearby.

"Yep, he used to be a shinobi from Shang. He's talking to the master right now about joining."

"I had a feeling something like this would happen soon; my cards did say we'd be meeting someone new pretty soon." A young brown haired girl said as he flipped around magical cards around the tables of the guild.

"As long as he's pretty quiet I don't really care if he joins or not. This guild is noisy enough as it is Cana." The boy voiced his opinions while drinking some soda, only for him to freak out upon Cana pointing out his old habit.

"Gray, your clothes!"

Watching Gray rush around the pub looking for his clothes, a young girl in armor with her long red hair tied back into a braid chuckled lightly to herself "Let's just hope you don't scare him off with your stripping habit before he even lasts a day."

"Shut up Erza!"

Gray growled before his attention was turned to the front entrance opening along with the rest of the guild to see Master Makarov walking in with a short blonde boy wearing a black t-shirt with jeans, and an orange Fairy Tail guild mark on his right bicep. There was a slight red glowing under his shirt, but no one really brought it up.

"This is Naruto Uzumaki; he'll be a part of our guild for now." Makarov introduced the new mage to the rest of the guild, who slowly walked up to the center before making an introduction of his own.

"It's just like Jiisan said, my name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm not going to lie, I'm probably going to be a lot a weaker than you at first, and I don't know the first thing about magic. But don't look down on me just because I'm new! Dattebayo!" Naruto proclaimed to the amusement of the older guild members.

"What have we done?" Wakaba groaned "It's like having two Grays."

"Looks like we've got a live one." Macao chuckled before taking another swig of whiskey from his mug.

"Great we've got an idiot in the guild. This is even worse than what I thought would happen." Gray slapped his forehead in frustration, only for Erza to slap the back of the head.

"Don't be rude Gray, he should at least at be given a chance before you start insulting. And go put on some clothes." Erza scolded him before walking over to Naruto and smacking him on the head "And you, don't be so loud. I'd prefer to keep the guild peaceful this late in the day."

After Naruto got up and rubbed his aching head, he saw Erza holding out her hand "Sorry if that hurt too much. My name is Erza Scarlet."

Once he got up from the hit to the head, Naruto's felt his face begin to go red from blushing when he looked at Erza _'Oh man, she's pretty. But she's also scary! Are all Ishgar girls like this?'_

"Excuse me, are you alright. It's rude to stare you know." Erza said before Naruto responded.

"Sorry, it's just that your armor looks really cool on you." Naruto complimented her, causing Erza to break out into a small break out into a small blush as well.

Gray noticed this and saw the opportunity to tease them a bit "Smoochie, smoochie, someone's in love." In response Erza backhanded him across the room.

"Be quiet Gray, you shouldn't tease people you just met like that. Naruto's just being nice is all." Erza scolded him before turning her attention to Naruto "The one in his boxers is Gray Fullbuster, and the girl practicing card magic is Cana Alberona."

"Hello there." Cana give the new Mage a quick wave.

"So if you're a shinobi then what kind of magic do you use in Shang anyways?" Gray asked, while cleaning off his now bloodied nose.

"Ninjas use something called chakra Gray. I doubt he's even heard of magic till today." Erza explained to the young mage.

"I'm not really sure what type of magic I can use. It involves the conversion of my chakra nature or something like that." Naruto tried to use his growing magical power through a typical shinobi hand seal only to receive no results "How do I control magic anyway?"

"People have different ways of using their magic, but it all comes back to forming a magic circle. For example, my magic revolves around Requiping." Erza allowed Naruto to see her magic as a red magic circle engulfed her in golden light, before it died down and she was revealed to be wearing winged armor with the appearance of a large metal flower.

 **"Requip: Heaven's Wheel"**

"You can do that with magic? I hope I get magic like that!"

"Get used to seeing it on all the time, she never takes it off." Gray grumbled at the habits of his mysterious guildmate.

"At least she wears something Ero-stripper. Put some clothes on."

"Jokes on you, I've got my clothes on now." Gray snapped back, only to realize he had stripped down to his boxers again, and began panicking to find them "NOT AGAIN!"

This reaction caused the guild to start uproaring with laughter "He's got you there Gray! Second time in a row you've been burned by a rookie." Wakaba howled with laughter.

"Maybe he's a fire Mage!"

Naruto laughed at Gray's misfortune with the rest of the guild before realizing Makarov was standing next to him "I see your fitting right in. Just try not to get into to much trouble without your magic fully converted."

"You got it Jiisan! I think I'm going to like it here." Naruto gave the master a thumbs up signifying his happiness "But I still want to know how I'm supposed to form those magic circle things."

"Just let the magic flow through and find a place to channel it. It doesn't require any particular seals to form like jutsu do, but if you feel comfortable with it I'd recommend hand seals."

"Alright." Naruto said to the old man before trying to focus the magic that had already been converted and made a ram seal with his hands. It took him a few moments, but he managed to form a light green magic circle and perform his first spell as a Mage "I got it!"

Unfortunately he released the circle before it could be controlled fully, causing a large blast of wind to tear through the pub and eventually hit the wall "So I use wind magic?…Oh crap I'm really sorry!"

 _'Oh no. Between this gaki and Erza and Gray I can only dread how the guild will be when their old enough to perform jobs big enough for the Magic Council to notice!'_ Makarov let his imagination run wild and did the only thing he could do upon envisioning an even more destructive Fairy Tail. He started to cry.

"Pull yourself together Master!"

* * *

 **(A/N): Hello readers it is I Skillet28561. To returning readers from the Monster Chronicles or Ninja of Santoryu, you may be wondering "Why aren't you working one of those two stories?!" Because Fairy Tail is back on Netflix and I've been watching it a lot lately. I really don't want to use the banishment cliché but I used him running away in Ninja of Santoryu, so I don't want to use the same concept twice. The first small bit we'll be focusing on is Naruto growing up as a member of Fairy Tail before we get into the main story of the manga. As such only Cana, Gray, and Erza have joined by this point.**

 **For a second chapter not sure when that will be, because I want to finish up the current story arc in Ninja of Santoryu soon, and there's about five chapters left. No to mention I've got some school work to take care of for the small remainder of senior year.**

 **If you like the story and want to see more, click the favorite and follow sections and be sure to review as long it's not trolling, death threats, or general douchebaggery. I promise the quality we improve the further in I get to the story. Wish this story plenty of luck and I'll see you next time.**

 **Next Chapter: Naruto's First Job**


	2. Naruto's First Job

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. If I did then…I wouldn't have wasted all my best Naruto disclaimers on Ninja of Santoryu.**

 **Cedric: And that's what you get for your updates being so inconsistent**

 **Skillet: And who was wrong about the story bombing again?**

 **Cedric: Fourteen reviews, big** **deal.**

 **L: Isn't that seven times the reviews the Monster Chronicles normally gets on its chapters?**

 **Cedric: Is the sound of someone who wants to be dismembered?**

 **L: Big whoop I'm already dead.**

 **Chapter 2: Naruto's First Job**

* * *

It was an early morning at the beginning of July, and Naruto woke up from his bed with a stretch. Shortly after joining Fairy Tail and becoming a legal citizen of Fiore a few months ago, Naruto moved into the male dormitory for young mages of the guild, Fairy Valley "Alright let's get to training!" Naruto said cheerfully before he heard his stomach growl and he realized that he had just ran out of his stock of food.

"Oh right, I'm out of food. Guess I should start looking for some way to get money." Naruto groaned as she walked out of his dorm room to see that Fairy Valley was still dormant. Several of the young male mages were either out on jobs or sleeping like babies. Only Gray seemed to be out and about at the moment, training with his Ice Make Magic in the middle of the clearing that Fairy Valley surrounded.

"Hey Gray, do you have any idea how we're supposed to make money around here? Master Jiisan said something about taking jobs when I first joined."

"Ran out of your Beginner's Food Stock eh? Most people end up in the same boat as you sooner or later I suppose." Gray looked up at him from the balcony "There's a job request board in the Guild Hall there's all kind of jobs you can take there."

"Thanks!" Naruto said to Gray before he jumped off the edge of the balcony and started to jog in the direction of the guild hall. Gray decided to go back to training once their brief conversation had ended, until he noticed that Naruto had trailed back to ask him something else "By the way, do you know if we can ask anybody to tag along on a job with us?"

"Yeah, it's actually suggested that beginners do that on harder jobs so they don't get themselves killed." Gray answered his question.

"That's good, I was actually thinking of asking Erza-chan if she wanted to go on a job with me." Naruto said with a blush on his face as he thought of his red haired guild mate "I want to split the money with her as a way of saying thanks for being so nice to me when I first joined the guild."

Seeing his skin turn a dark red when the topic of Erza came up, Gray decided it would be appropriate to tease him a bit "Oh really? Are you sure that's the only reason? Or does somebody have a crush on Little Miss Redhead?"

"Hey, it's not like that you big dumbass! I just think that she's really pretty and cool, so I want to help her out a bit." Naruto tried to defend himself from the young ice mage's accusations despite the growing blush on his face.

"That's called a crush you know." Gray said to him with a sly smile "Face it Naruto, you've got it bad."

"Shut up Ero-Freezer!" Naruto said with a face as red as a tomato before running into the streets of Magnolia. As a result of his Shangeese origins, Naruto found that he had no idea how to read the language or alphabet of Ishgar and had quite a bit of trouble getting around as a result. After the past months of getting completely lost in his new environment, Naruto figured out how to get to the Fairy Tail guild by memory.

While he ran towards the famous guild building, he noticed two other boys running nearby him. One of them was a boy with black hair shaped like a leaf, wearing a white tee shirt and green shorts; the other was a fast paced orange haired boy wearing a purple t-shirt. Naruto knew these boys on a first name basis, both of them being young members of Fairy Tail as well "Hey Jet, hey Droy. Have you seen any good jobs on the request board lately?"

"That's just what we were running over to the guild for. Levy says she found a high paying job taking a book from some nobleman in Shirotsume Town." Jet explained to the former shinobi while he jogged beside them.

"Stealing a book? That sounds really weird." Naruto gave a confused leer towards his guildmate.

"Who cares, it's legal and it pays a bunch of cash. You should come check it out newbie." Droy shrugged off Naruto's concerns with a grin, while Naruto got annoyed with one of the young Plant mage's comments.

"Who are you calling a newbie jackass? You barely joined the guild before me so shut your trap!" Naruto growled at Droy who continued to laugh at him.

At their quick pace, it only took the small group of boys about five minutes to reach the Fairy Tail guild hall and they found that it was just as busy as ever inside. The only one who seemed to be quiet was Laxus, who was still keeping to himself as a result of his father's recent excommunication from the guild. Just as Jet and Droy said, Levy was also at the board looking at a particular job with interest, especially the reward of 200,000 jewel.

"Hey boys, you decide to come along with me on the job?" Levy asked her friends who seemed very interested in the task at hand.

"Of course, we're Team Shadow Gear aren't we? Besides, who'd turn down a job that pays that much money." Jet said while drooling at the thought of the large reward that came with the job "And to think we only have to take a book from some dirty old guy named Duke Everlue!"

"Stop drooling Jet, it's getting all over the floor!"

"By the way Levy, do you think it would be cool if we brought Naruto along with us for this job? Newbie just ran out of his Beginner's Food Stock so he might need the cash." Droy explained to his blue haired teammate, who seemed to be on board with the idea.

"Well, four heads are certainly better than three. And besides, the reward would be a lot easier to divide up with an even number. So I don't see why not." Levy began to calculate the amount each person would get "Between the 200,000 jewel reward and the four of us, we'd each get about 50,000 jewel."

"50,000 JEWEL? WE'LL BE STINKING RICH!"

While Team Shadow Gear and Naruto celebrated the high amount of return they'd be getting and the rest of the guild looked on in envy, Makarov walked in and informed them of another detail concerning the job "I'm not so sure you'd want to take the Everlue job just yet. You may not know this, but the reward was recently changed."

"Oh man, it went down didn't it? I knew that much money for some stupid book was too good to be true." Droy looked down in sadness while a dark smirk grew across Makarov's face.

"Actually quite the opposite; the reward has been increased to 2 million!"

"2 MILLION JEWEL!"

"You've gotta be kidding us Master! That's the kind of reward you'd get from a low level S-Class quest!" Wakaba practically jumped out of his seat upon hearing the amount "No way you're just gonna let that thing stay on the downstairs board!"

"The poster hasn't marked it with the S-Class seal, so technically anyone in the guild can pick it up and take it." Makarov explained to the others, while Team Shadow Gear and Naruto stayed off to the background, shocked by the extremely high rise in payment.

" _2 million jewel...2 million jewel...Is this the real life...Is this just fantasy?"_ Naruto said a practically comatose state while the others stared at the job poster in a mixture of surprise and excitement "This is way more than I ever made on Team 7!"

"So I presume you'll be taking the job then?"

"You got that right master! There's no way I'm turning down a job I could do that easily!" Naruto declared before another member of the guild interjected into the conversation.

"Not so fast, I'm not exactly sure that a job with such a high reward can be done with so few people. Especially when most of these people are relatively new to the guild." Erza explained herself before approaching Levy "I hope you don't mind this Levy, but I'd like to join you on this job to make sure it's not dangerous."

"Of course not Erza, the more the merrier." Levy said to the older girl with a smile on her face.

"Good news eh Naruto?" Jet teased Naruto concerning his not so secret crush on Erza, before pointing out a detail of the job that Naruto seemed to have missed "By the way, this Duke Everlue guy is a dirty old pervert who's looking for maids with blonde hair."

"...Wait, what?"

"You do know some transforming magic thanks to your ninja days right? That means you can transform into a hot blonde maid and help us infiltrate his place." Droy further explained with an evil grin on his face.

"No way, you bastards tricked me!" Naruto yelled in disbelief while Jet and Droy tried to contain their laughter.

"Too bad Erza's on the job now, so there's no way you can back out! Now why don't you start practicing and address Jet here as your master."

"FUCK YOU!"

* * *

Later that day, the members of Team Shadow Gear plus Naruto and Erza had made it to Shirotsume and had arrived at the mansion of the man who'd made the job request. Naruto was still visibly annoyed at having to act as a makeshift honey trap for the job, but gritted his teeth and went along with it anyways; partially because he needed the money, and partially because he wanted to impress Erza. The man funding the job appeared to be in his early 50s with a small mustache and gray hair, with a normal business suit.

"My name is Kaby Melon, thank you for taking on this job for me. I have to say I never expected mages this young to be taking on the job, even if you are from Fairy Tail." Kaby said to them from the other side of the table.

"I assure you we are quite capable. My name is Erza Scarlett and the shangeese boy with the whisker birthmarks is Naruto Uzumaki." Erza introduced both herself and Naruto.

"I'm Levy and these two are Jet and Droy. We're Team Shadow Gear."

"Thank you for the introductions." Kaby gave them a small bow with his head before going into more detail about his request "The man ruling over this town is Duke Everlue, and he owns a book titled Daybreak. I would like for you to take the book from him and burn it."

"Burn a book?" Levy said in shock, which mainly stemmed from her love of reading "If you don't mind me asking, why do you want this book to be burned?"

"The same reason I raised the reward for this job. I simply cannot allow a book that's caused so much pain to family to exist any longer. It must be destroyed!" Kaby grew a dark presence around him as he solemnly gazed at the floor beneath him "You should know that no mage that I've hired to do this job has succeeded; all of them have been killed by Everlue's security. Knowing this I'll understand if you decide you want to back out."

"No way!" Naruto stood up from his seat "By taking this job, I gave my word we would get it done and I never go back on my word. That's my nindo, my ninj-...mage way."

"Besides, we already bought the maid outfit for infiltration." Droy held up the costume with a grin, much to the annoyance of Naruto.

This joke backfired on Droy when Kaby asked "What exactly is the maid uniform for young man?"

"He's an okama!" Naruto piped up before Droy could answer.

* * *

"I can't believe I'm doing this." Naruto grimaced as he walked up to Everlue Mansion, having already been forced into the maid costume by Jet and Droy "I could have just transformed into a maid's costume you know! I didn't have to wear this stupid thing for real!"

"We know! This is just more fun!" Jet said while and Droy continued to snicker at what he was wearing, only to get smacked over the head by Erza.

"It's not nice to tease others boys. Now let's hide in the bushes so Naruto can do his job."

"I'm totally getting a higher percentage of the reward than you bastards!" Naruto growled at the boys of Team Shadow Gear while he walked up to the gates of the Everlue Mansion, and transformed into his usual Sexy Jutsu, but this time with a magical spin on it.

 **"Transformation Magic: Sexy Maid Edition"**

"Oh man, she's cute!" Droy drooled over the newly transformed Naruto from the trees nearby.

"That she is a he Droy." Levy reminded her teammate.

"Excuse me, Duke Everlue? I heard you were looking for blonde maids?" The transformed Naruto cooed, trying to make himself sound as seductive as possible with his female voice. Just then, another woman in a maid's uniform appeared from underground. However, this woman didn't appear to be a woman at all, having a very mannish face and insanely muscular build. The gigantic maid spoke in a booming, deep voice.

"So you're applying for a maid's position? I presume you saw the master's ad in the paper?"

"Uh...yeah." Naruto said, shocked by the sudden appearance of the large woman before somebody else came out of the ground. This person was a very short man in a business suit with balding light brown hair and a mustache that was apparently combed from his nose hairs. Naruto almost immediately recognized him as the man from the job poster, Duke Everlue ' _I have to hit on this creep? He looks even more ancient than Ero-sennin!'_

"Boyoyo! Did I hear a lady call my name?" Duke Everlue chortled out while twirling around his nose hair mustache after popping out from underground. It was then he started closely examining Naruto, before cringing and turning the other way "I'll pass, now scram ugly. I only hire beautiful maids like Virgo here."

"NANI?" Naruto cried out in shock, not even bothering to disguise his voice.

"It didn't work? Man, that old geezer must have cataracts or something!" Jet said in shock that their plan had failed.

"Well, look it at this way; now we have blackmail pictures if we ever need anything else from Naruto!" Droy held up the pictures of Naruto in drag he'd taken in secret.

"True!"

Sighing at the immaturity of her teammates, Levy turned to face Erza "So do you have any ideas on how to get in Erza?"

"Simple, we do what Fairy Tail always does on its jobs. And that's not forcing our comrades into drag for a cheap gag." Erza cast a brief but harsh glare onto Jet and Droy for their actions, before elaborating on her plan "It's likely that a mansion this big would have a library. We'll just have to sneak in and take it."

"You got that right Erza-chan!" Naruto said as he practically tore himself from the costume and changed back into his usual clothes "Thanks to that kappa I wore this stupid outfit for nothing! He's gonna pay!"

* * *

 **"Requip: Flame Empress Armor"**

Using the fire manipulation powers that her Flame Empress Armor gave her, Erza welded a hole in through the window for the others to get through "Alright, this is supposed to be an in and out mission, so we need to be stealthy. However, there's a chance we should prepare for a fight in the event we come across the Duke's security."

"Well, Naruto is a ninja, so that should be pretty easy for him." Levy said while Naruto gleefully thought of ways to get revenge on Everlue

"Maybe I should take a dump in his slippers or something? Yeah, that would be good!"

"Focus on the task at hand Naruto!" Ezra said while they snuck through the mansion and began checking each room to try and find Daybreak. However they didn't seem to have any luck, as most of it seemed to be examples of the Duke's vanity project, such a large golden statue and even a golden toilet with his face on it. There progress was halted even further when they actually did come across Everlue's security.

Which seemed to be a troop of bizarre looking maids led by Virgo "Let's crush them girls!"

"They found us! How did they know we were here?!" Jet said in shock before Erza requiped once again to fight them.

 **"Requip: Heaven's Wheel"**

With only Virgo having much combat experience compared to the other maids, a majority of them were taken out relative ease by Erza's swordplay. Despite her force of maids being easily defeated by the armored girl, Virgo showed minimal signs of injury and smirked "It'll take a lot more than that to beat me you little runt. There's a reason I'm considered the top tier of Duke Everlue's maids."

"Oh no, a big ugly maid, whatever shall we do." Naruto mocked the gigantic woman in a deadpan tone before Erza prepared to attack again. Spinning all ten swords around her at an increasingly rapid rate, she then brought down the ones she held in her hands and sent a ringed slash in Virgo's path. This knocked back the behemoth into the next floor, where she landed with a loud crash.

 **"Circle Sword"**

The members of Team Shadow Gear seemed incredibly shocked by Erza's display of might, while Naruto watched with a smile on his face "Holy shit that was cool Erza-chan!"

"Really? To be honest that move was entirely experimental, and it was the first time I've used it in a real fight." Ezra said as she requiped back into her normal armor, and walked toward what was assumed to be Everlue's library. Upon opening the door, the assumption was proven to be correct as the room was filled to brim with books of all length and genre.

All the while Levy, being the bookworm that she was, gazed around the room in awe "Man, who knew that this guy would be such a regular reader."

"How on Earth are we going to find one book in all this?" Jet said while looking around the room for anyplace on the shelves that Daybreak could be. After a few minutes of looking with the rest of the group, the speed mage's eye was drawn to a book with a sparkling gold cover "This one looks really weird. Maybe it's just some of that stuff dirty old men like to read."

"Let me see." Droy grabbed the book as Jet came down the shelf ladder, before his eyes were drawn to title "Wait a minute! I think you just found Daybreak!"

"Nice job Jet!" Levy patted her friend and teammate on the back, before she noticed something else about the book's front cover "Wait a minute, this book was written by Kemu Zaleon? I thought I read all of his works! This must be an unpublished novel of his!"

Watching the petite girl squeal over the book in confusion, Naruto turned to Erza and asked "So who exactly is this Kemu Zaleon guy again?"

"From what I can gather, he's a highly prolific writer of adventure and mystery novels. It appears that Levy's quite the fan of his." Ezra informed the rookie wind mage before taking out the sword she would normally use in her Flame Empress Armor "But it doesn't really matter who wrote the book; our only concern is making sure it gets destroyed."

"No way! This is a great piece of literature! Can't we just say it was destroyed and let me hang on to it?" Levy immediately got defensive over the book and scooted back away from Erza, only for a deep and strange laugh of _'Boyoyoyoyo!'_ to fill the air around them.

This laugh came from Duke Everlue, who burst from the library's floor in a tan magic circle with a grin on his homely face "So you Fairy Tail brats are looking to pilfer Daybreak from me are you? I have to admit that out of all the wonderful items I have in my humble estate, I never expected it to be that piece of shit excuse for a novel. The mere thought of it being written by the once great Kemu Zaleon makes me absolutely sick!"

 _'A piece of shit? But why would Mr. Kaby be willing to pay 2,000,000 jewel just to destroy it if it's worth so little to the holder?'_ Levy pondered the strangeness of the situation before immediately backtracking "So wait, does that mean we can take the book then?"

"NO! WHAT'S MINE IS MINE AND I WON'T LET ANYONE ELSE SO MUCH AS LAY A FINGER ON MY POSSESSIONS!" Everlue snapped at the young mages.

"Man, what a skinflint." Jet mocked the nobleman.

"Yeah, I mean if its worth so little then why not just let us burn it?" Droy remarked, much to the ire of Levy.

"How many times do I have to tell you I'm not letting you guys damage this book?!"

"Levy! This is our job!" Erza scolded the blue-haired bookworm, who didn't seem that affected.

In fact, the only response Levy had was to kneel on the ground and crack the book open with intrigue "Can I at the very least read it first?"

"RIGHT HERE?!"

"That's it! I won't allow you Fairy Tail brats to disrespect me or my possessions any longer! Vanish Brothers, exterminate these vermin!" Everlue angrily declared with the snap of his finger, causing the bookcases of the library to suddenly slide open and reveal two figures. The shorter man had his black hair tied back into a tight long braid, and bore pointed ears and red characters painted on different places on his face. For a weapon he had what appeared to be a large frying pan, and he wore a white and green cloak.

The larger of the two had a muscular build and four large tufts of black hair sticking out from different points at his head, as well as wearing a blue and yellow jacket with white jeans and a red headband that covered up his forehead. The only thing these men had in common were the band they kept on their arms that each held a guild mark, which Jet seemed to recognize "They're from the Oración Seis branch guild Southern Wolves!"

"Oración Seis?" Naruto asked with confusion clear in his voice.

"They're the third most powerful dark guild in all of Fiore, and these mercenaries must belong to a subordinate guild of their's." Erza explained "The guild that attack you when you first came to Fiore is also one of their branch guilds!"

"I'm surprised you little punks are from the Fairy Tail guild. Better run or we'll tell your mamas on you." The larger man said while Everlue began to gloat.

"It just so happens that the Southern Wolves are always hungry for fresh game, so you'd better be prepared for a meal thieves!"

Suddenly, Levy shut the book and said to the others "I think that this book may hold some sort of secret! Jet, Droy, follow me! Naruto, Erza, do you think you can hold these guys off?"

"You got it!" Naruto said with a grin while Erza merely nodded in response.

However, Everlue seemed a lot more interested in something else Levy had mentioned while she and the other members of Team Shadow Gear ran somewhere else into the manor "A secret? Maybe it's for some sort of treasure map or something?" It was at that moment Everlue's sense of greed went out of control and he said to his hired help with a hungry smile "I'm going after the others, take care of Romeo and Juliet over here!"

"w-What did you say old man?" Naruto yelled with a deep blush while the duke sank back into the ground, leaving them alone with the Vanish Brothers.

"Let's put these kids in their place." The short one said while arming himself with the frying pan.

"You mean their crib Big Bro?"

Despite the mercenaries' thinly veiled threats against them, neither Naruto or Erza seemed very threatened "So Erza-chan, which one do you wanna take: the little one or the big tough stupid one?"

"I'll the big one actually, he looks like the stronger opponent. Just the kind I've been looking to try out a new armor I've made on." Erza responded before requiping into a new set of armor which was large and yellow complete with hair clips and a white fur trimming. The armor also had blue muscles, boots, and gloves which seemed to be much bulkier than Erza's usual girlish build.

 **"Requip: Giant Armor"**

Upon hearing Erza's choice of opponent, Naruto prepared a magic variation of one of his former jutsu and charged at the dark mage wielding the pan like weapon "Then I guess that means that ponytail-teme is mine!"

 **"Wind Magic: Rasengan"**

While strong, the attack failed as the man guarded with his frying pan which absorbed the blow completely, before the younger brother took the opportunity to roundhouse rick Naruto through the door of the library, and into the mansion's foyer. In response to the attack Erza came in from behind with a hard jab to the larger Vanish Brother's back, which due to the augmented strength that came with the Giant Armor, caused him to slam into his brothers and send them flying after Naruto.

Naruto proceeded to land the tongue of the golden statue of Duke Everlue kept in the foyer, coughing up a large amount of blood from the blow to the chest, before Erza came down after him "You doing alright Erza-chan?" He asked having noticed a small amount of blood leaking from her mouth as well.

"It's fine, my body's just not used to this type of armor yet. We'll have to end this quick. How are you doing?" Erza asked before they noticed their opponents standing over them from the second floor.

"Tell me brats, do you know what the biggest weakness about any mage is?" The older brother said before he jumped up and attacked, breaking the tongue from the statue and forcing Naruto and Erza to move "The condition of their bodies!"

"They spend so much time on mental magic, they leave themselves physically weak!" The younger brother went after Naruto in midair, grabbing him and slamming him into the wall "But we train our bodies daily, so that means we can beat any mage without problem. The last one to take this job spent years mastering a spell that could break bones, but one punch from me broke every bone in his body!"

 **"Wind Magic: Starlight Kick"**

Naruto took the opportunity of his opponent's tale to do a flipping kick into the air which was powered by a gust from his heel, hitting him in the chest, head, and worst of all the groin as he flew up into the air and landed behind him "Don't think that we don't train our bodies too teme. We're way stronger than you flying monkeys could ever imagine."

"Why you stupid little shit, we'll show you to mess us! Big Bro, let's show them what we're really made of! The combo-attack!" The tall man said while holding his groin in pain. The older brother held out his pan, allowing him to get into stance on top of it in preparation for an attack.

 **"Heaven and Hell Annihilation Technique"**

The larger brother was then tossed into the air by the upward movement of the pan and disappeared in a flash, while the shorter one suddenly flashed in front of Naruto and sent him flying with another blow to the core "Look to heaven, and we'll strike from the earth!" After landing, the aching Naruto noticed that he was about to be attacked again "Look to the earth and we'll strike from the heaven!"

"Look out Naruto!" Erza blocked the attack with her Giant Armor, and began a clash of strength with the younger brother.

"You're wasting your time brat! No one can survive the full force of our combo attack!"

"Shut up! No one hurts one of my comrades and gets away with it!" Erza ignored his words, and used her free hand to give him a hard upper cut to the jaw. This managed to send the man flying through the ceiling and far out of the building, much to the shock of his older brother.

"NO WAY! BROTHER!"

"It's my turn now teme!" Naruto said before releasing a much stronger version of his original spell from his first day at Fairy Tail "Say your prayers! Cause I'm gonna rock this dump!"

 **"Wind Magic: Tempest Cannon"**

 **"Wind Cooking"**

"Have you forgotten that my frying pan can absorb any magic spell you through at me?"

"Not one bit!" Naruto said with a large grin ' _That teme's weapon is like some sort of sponge for magical power, and I know that a sponge can only hold in so much water before it gets overflowed. All I have to do is overflow this guy's weapon and tear him apart!'_

However, the man seemed to realize Naruto's strategy "You little fool, don't think I don't realize what you're trying to do! Even if my pan runs out of space for magical power, I can release it at twice its original power! Right back at you!" The elder brother made good on his threats and sent a path of wind right at Naruto, causing a loud collision to occur "How do you like that, you stupid kid!"

"Naruto!" Erza said with concern in her voice, only to realize something bizarre. Naruto was literally eating the wind that had been thrown at him.

"I don't know how the hell I just did that, but I do know one thing. I'm going to kick your ass, you stupid merchant fairy!" Naruto cracked his knuckles and gave the man a glare that could kill.

"i-IiI'm a mercenary!" The man stuttered in fear, as Naruto approached and prepared to lay down his final attack.

 **"Wind Devil's Rage"**

A dark red magic circle appeared in front of Naruto's mouth, causing him to expel a gust of hot red wind straight at his opponent which inflicted massive damage on both him and the rest of the estate, which could be seen from the entrance to Shirotsume. By the time the smoke cleared, the defeated body of the eldest Vanish Brother could be seen twitching on the ground while the rest of the manor was a complete wreckage.

Upon seeing the carnage he'd inflicted, Naruto sheepishly faced Erza "Sorry about that. I guess I went overboard didn't I?"

"...How on earth do you known Devil Slayer Magic?" Erza asked in shock when she saw her guildmate somehow being able to use the supposedly lost magic.

However, judging from its name Naruto realized exactly where he got the ability and became nervous. Worrying that his guild might have the same reaction to his tenant as Konoha, he tried to find some sort of excuse for this sudden development of magic "I'm not really sure. T-to be honest I kinda just came up with the name because it sounded cool."

"Don't lie to me!" Erza scolded the former shinobi, before realizing he looked very afraid of something. Recognizing that fear in herself, Erza changed her approach to the subject and put her armored hand on Naruto's shoulder "I understand you're scared, but don't let anything that happened in the past let you keep important secrets from us. We're comrades and friends now, and that won't change no matter the circumstance."

"Alright...When I was a newborn, there was a demon called the Kyuubi no Kitsune that attacked my home village. The leader of my village only had one way to defeat it, and that was to seal it away into a baby at the cost of his own life. That baby was me Erza-chan. I'm pretty sure that's where I get my Devil Slayer Magic from." Naruto closed his eyes from sheer anxiety, not wanting to see the look of hatred and disgust that he was sure was on Erza's face.

However, when he felt Erza's hand on his cheek, Naruto opened his eyes to see a look of compassion "Naruto, that doesn't change who you are. You haven't been part of Fairy Tail for much longer than I have, and I already know that you're a strong and hard-working person. Anyone who can't see that is a fool of the highest order." That was all Erza had time to say before a teary eyed Naruto pulled her into a hug.

"Thank you...Erza-chan."

Erza was shocked for a moment, but returned the embrace and requiped back into her usual armor. However, while this was occurring, neither mage noticed that Virgo was beginning to get back up.

* * *

Meanwhile, Levy had managed to escape to the sewers beneath the manor after splitting up from Jet and Droy and was currently reading through Daybreak with a set of high-quality Wind Reader Glasses she had on hand. Using her knowledge of text, she found that the book was easy to decode and was shocked at what it truly said "No way! I knew that this book was holding some sort of secret, but this is unbelievable!"

Just then, Levy felt her hands get constricted and painfully bent backwards as Duke Everlue forcefully grabbed them "A secret? How interesting! Now why don't you be a good little girl and tell me all about it?"

"No chance in Hell! Someone like you doesn't deserve to know!" Levy screamed in anger despite the pain "You're an enemy of literature!"

"How dare you say that! My collection of culture proves that I am indeed literature's greatest ally!"

"This coming from the person who collects creepy maids!" Levy retorted, only for Everlue to bend her arms further.

"How dare you mock my beautiful collection of blonde maids!" Everlue said as he began to greedily stare at the book she held in her hand "Tell me the secret brat! I'm guessing Kemu Zaleon buried the massive fortune he acquired from his bibliography of masterpieces and the book holds the map. If you don't tell me where the treasure is hidden, I'll break your arms and sell you in Bosco. I hear that blue haired and red haired girls are especially popular their!"

"I'll take it to my grave!" Levy cried out in pain before defiantly sticking her tongue out at the Duke, who's grip on her arms only got tighter.

"Listen child, this book was a commission by me, so any secret it may hold is legally my property!" Duke Everlue claimed as he began to bend Levy's arms backwards, only to receive an uppercut to the jaw and a side kick to the face, courtesy of Jet and Droy.

 **"Knuckle Plant"**

 **"Falcon Heavenward"**

While the ugly man was sent flying by the attacks, Levy gave her team a thumbs up "Great work you guys! Thanks for the save!"

"More of you brats? I'd think the Vanish Brothers would have exterminated you by now." Duke Everlue wiped away the blood now dripping from his mouth as a result of the ambush.

"Alright Everlue, the tables have turned with Team Shadow Gear all together, so you've got two choices! Let us keep the book or we'll smack you down a size or two." Droy said as he drew out more of his magic plant seeds in preparation for a fight.

"Foolish little boy, as your book loving friend would tell you, the tables have turned means that the weaker party has rallied to claim victory. But there's no way a group of children could ever defeat my Diver Magic!" Everlue said before quickly descending back into the ground.

"No way! That old fatty's a mage too!" Jet said before he and the rest of his team had to avoid Everlue's mad attacks around them.

However, Levy seemed very uncharacteristically angry with the man "I know everything about what happened now old man. This book is nothing more than a piece of garbage about a trashy little character named Duke Everlue!"

"Wait, you're telling me the book's about this old fart?"

"I agree that while the protagonist is far from trashy, the story is absolutely worthless! To this day I can't believe that it was written by Kemu Zaleon!" Everlue proclaimed as he popped around the room and forced Team Shadow Gear to avoid his attempts to grab the book "It's inexcusable!"

"Your arrogance is sickening, you forced him to write it!"

"Moi arrogant? Hogwash! To tell the story of a man such as me is an honor, no matter the circumstance!"

"Then why did you have to blackmail into writing it?" Levy asked, shocking Jet and Droy.

However Everlue didn't really seem to care, simply twirling the mustache that protruded from his nose and swimming through the gravel that lined the sewage "What's the big deal, it's his fault for refusing to write it. Any fool should have jumped to have me as their muse, but he had the gall to refuse my commission! So I gave him an ultimatum: Write the novel, or I'll revoke his family's citizenship from Fiore!"

"Are you serious? They could never join any merchant or craftsmen guild if you did that! Do you really have that kind of power?" Jet asked in shock that it was possible.

"Of course, I have connections to both the Magic Council and the Balam Alliance of Dark Guilds! I got him to write the novel didn't I?" Everlue claimed as he burst from the ground "But I didn't like his attitude, so I had him placed in solitary prison confinement till the novel was finished! He droned on and on about being a proud novelist who'd never give in to petty threats, but I always get what I want!"

"You bastard! That poor man was in solitary confinement for three years, and all you care about is your own ego!" Levy practically screamed in rage.

"No way, three years?!"

"It's not an issue, it just took him that long to realize how great I am!"

"More like he couldn't bear to spread your shit around! But he knew if he didn't write you as some sort of champion, his family would starve because of your arrogance!" Levy continued to glare him down.

"Tell me little girl, this all happened over twenty years ago, so how could you possibly know every last detail of my commission?" Everlue asked.

"Simple, it's all written here in black and white!" Levy presented the book, to the surprise of the others.

Everlue however, simply scoffed at this possibility "Impossible, I've read every sentence of that book and Kemu Zaleon is never mentioned."

"That's because you don't know that Kemu Zaleon was an S-Class mage of Lamia Scale before he ever picked up a pen. After finishing the book he enchanted it with a spell that made it impossible for anyone to read the truth behind it without some form of Solid Script Magic." Levy explained the truth, greatly angering the Duke.

"You mean that old crone turned a book about a great man like me into a hatchet job? His family will pay dearly for this!" Everlue growled as he began to attack Team Shadow Gear again.

"Get over yourself! He may have written about every monstrous thing you did to him, but that's not the books real secret!" Levy finished her tirade against the corrupt nobleman "I'll never let you lay hands on this book again Duke Everlue, because it never really belonged to you to begin with!"

"I know what that hack wrote about! He must have done an exposé on my connections with the Balam Alliance, and how I actually made my fortune! If I let Fairy Tail hand it over to the Magic Council, my goose would be cooked!" Duke Everlue said in horror, before pulling out a small golden key from his pocket.

 **"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"**

"Did I hear my master summon me?" Virgo appeared from the ground upon having her gate opened, much to the surprise of Team Shadow Gear.

"No way, this old fart's got Celestial Spirits?"

"Virgo, retrieve that book from those brats and kill each one of them!" Everlue pointed to Team Shadow Gear, only for Naruto and Erza to suddenly fall behind her, seemingly out of breath "What is the meaning of this?"

"Naruto? Erza? What are you guys doing here?" Droy said in shock at their sudden appearance.

"Beats me. We just got finished beating those merchant fairies when this lady got back up started grabbing us. Next thing you know, we showed up here!" Naruto explained his point of view of what happened.

"You must have passed through the gate with her!"

"Enough of this nonsense! Clean up this malcontent Virgo!"

"I don't think so! Take this you scoundrel!" Erza said as she requiped a sword and took out Virgo with ease. It was then that Jet began using his speed magic to run around Everlue at a pace faster than he could see, before kicking him up into air where he was grabbed by Jet's vines. It was then when Levy used her Solid Script magic to take out the corrupt duke.

"Take this you pervy mole creature!"

 **"Solid Script: Bullet"**

"You'll never be anything more than a small side character." Levy said as the now smoking Duke Everlue was dropped from Droy's vines and into the sewer water "Mission accomplished guys. Now let's get this book back to-"

Right as Levy began to say this, the foundation to the manor fell apart, leaving it ruins to the shock of the young Fairy Tail mages, who were now out in the open due to the gaping hole where the sewer's ceiling used to be "No way, I came along so something like this wouldn't happen."

"Way to go Naruto, first job and you're already destroying stuff. Way to go!" Jet gave Naruto a pat on the back, not noticing how shocked he'd seemed by what had just happened. To make matters even worse, an entire platoon of Rune Knights appeared and pointed their weapons at them from above the hole "I guess we did go overboard though."

"We're screwed!"

"This is a destruction of Council property! Explain yourselves!"

Before they could explain what had happened, a now conscious but severely beaten Everlue crawled over "Rune Knights, arrest this Shangese barbarian and his dark mage cohorts! This is a blatant act of terrorism!"

"NANI?" Naruto began to panic, only for Levy to step up.

"Actually, we're from Fairy Tail. We were sent to investigate reports that Duke Everlue has connections to the Oración Seis. Judging from the members of the Southern Wolves we've fought, these rumors are true." Levy explained while displaying her guild mark. This seemed to be good enough for the Captain.

"Investigate the area for any members of the Southern Wolves! Take the Duke of Shirotsume into custody till these rumors can be verified!"

Much to Duke Everlue's chagrin, they followed the orders to the letter, arresting him and confiscating the Spirit Key in the process "You can't do this to me! I'll report this to the Magic Council and have you all court marshaled!"

"Do you kids mind hanging onto this key till this investigation is completed?" The captain handed the key to Naruto before offhandedly remarking "Man, the council is gonna give Fairy Tail a big headache over this mess."

 _'Oh great...'_

* * *

"I don't understand. Why haven't you destroyed this book?" Kaby said as he glared at the book he was given.

"We thought that you should be the one to destroy it since it means so much to you Mr. Kaby." Levy explained her actions.

"I certainly will burn this travesty. It's caused to much pain and suffering to my family for me to allow its existence any longer!" With that declaration in mind, Kaby prepared a match for the book, before Naruto spoke up.

"I think I've got it figured out now Kaby-san. This Kemu Zaleon guy, he's your old man isn't he?"

"Wait a minute really?"

"Aw man. Naruto, you totally stole my thunder!" Levy jokingly whined to the former shinobi.

"Sorry about that Levy-chan." Naruto apologized before turning his attention back to their client "So have you ever even read the damn thing? I mean it was your father's last book after all."

"No, I don't think that I ever could bring myself to read it. Even its author thinks its garbage."

"So you were just going to burn it!" Naruto got visibly angry with Kaby "You should at least see what's inside it old man! Some people would kill for that kind of memory!"

"Naruto! Let him explain himself!" Erza pushed the devil slayer back, while Kaby began to recount to production of Daybreak.

"24 years ago my father came from writing that book. The moment he got home, he proclaimed that he'd given up writing for good and used his own paper cutting board to chop of his hands. I remember in the hospital I snapped at him for abandoning our family for three years to write a book he wasn't even proud of, and called him a lousy excuse for a father. That was the last thing I ever said to him before he died of his injuries 7 hours later. As I got older and started my own family, my anger turned to guilt. Erasing the very thing that caused him so much misery is the only way I can think of apologizing to him."

Upon hearing the story, Jet and Droy began to cry while Naruto just looked down in shame "I understand now. I'm sorry for snapping at you like that."

As he lit the match and brought it closer to the book, Kaby somberly whispered to himself "I'm sure that in the end, this is what he would want."

"You're wrong Kaby!" Levy suddenly said before tossing him her Solid Script Wind Reader Glasses, at which point the book began to glow with a white magic circle, and the letters rearranged itself from Daybreak to Dear Kaby and Kemu Zaleon became Zekua Melon. It was then that the book opened itself in midair and decoded the text inside "Now that you've come into contact with the book, the spell should be permanently released. Disguised by a spell that rearranges the letters inside, he dedicated his final book as a message to you. The reason he stopped was because he'd already completed his masterpiece, not because he was ashamed! And once you read it in the original form, it goes from the worst novel he's written to the undisputed best!"

Once the spell had finished its swan song as Daybreak, the newly retitled book fell into Kaby's arms "Father, I swear that I'll never let any harm come to this book as long as I live."

"Well, I guess that means we should be going." Naruto said as he began to walk out of the room, confusing everyone else.

"What about the 2,000,000 jewel moron?"

"The book wasn't burned, so we failed the job. It's that simple."

"ARE YOU FRICKIN' INSANE?!"

Sensing the new tension in the room, Erza stepped in "He's right, the job description wasn't to return the book. We can't claim the reward I'm afraid."

"Please, you've done so much for me! There must be something we can do!" Kaby tried to reason with them, while Naruto just grinned. Understanding there was no room for argument, Kaby merely nodded "I understand. I am forever in the debt in of your guild."

* * *

"Damnit Naruto! It wasn't our fault he decided not to burn the book!" Jet continued to gripe about the lost reward.

"What kind of idiot turns down 2,000,000 jewel!"

"Stop complaining boys. What's done is done, so we shouldn't keep dwelling on it." Levy said before noticing the darkening sky over them "Anyway, we should probably looking into setting up camp. Naruto, Erza, do you mind staying here and laying everything out while me and the boys look for fire wood."

"Levy, I don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm a boy." Naruto groaned.

"Well, to be fair you were a pretty cute girl earlier, Maid Naruko!" Droy mocked him for his previous adventure drag, resulting in the Devil Slayer getting very pissed off.

"I'LL KILL YOU DAMNIT!"

Naruto's rage was suddenly interrupted when Erza grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, allowing Team Shadow Gear to head in to the woods "You're kind of an emotional idiot aren't you?"

"Well, the thing is-"

"But you're definitely going to be a great mage if you always carry yourself the way you did with the reward earlier. Not to mention how much power you had against the Vanish Brothers." Erza complimented him, much to his delight.

"I guess I was pretty cool. But it was nothing compared to how cool you were Erza-chan. You punched that ginormous guy so hard he went flying!" Naruto said with a grin.

However Erza didn't seem to be nearly as happy "By the way, I'm sorry if I scared you earlier. I understand that whatever happened in the past, it's probably not something you're comfortable talking about. I shouldn't have just pressured you like that. No wonder everyone in the guild thinks I'm so scary."

"I don't think you're scary Erza-chan. I actually think you're really pretty and cool." Naruto tried to make her feel better, and smiled when he had visible success when she smiled at him.

However, this happiness turned into nerves when Erza closed her brown eyes and began to lean in. Panicking for a brief moment, Naruto managed to gather himself and lean in as well, before the young mages met in a soft kiss. A few moments into the kiss, they also began to embrace each other, not noticing the night sky around them begin to darken, or even the members of Team Shadow Gear coming back with firewood to watch the embrace in shock.

After a few more minutes, Naruto and Erza both realized what they were doing and stumbled back in embarrassment. Wanting to change to subject and quell the newborn awkwardness of the moment, Erza began to stutter out with a blush as deep a red as her braided hair on her face "S-so we should probably get to work on the campsite, shouldn't we Naruto-kun?"

"Yeah definitely!" Naruto agreed with her before realizing in horror that Team Shadow Gear had seen the whole thing "AH! NOTHING! WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING!"

"Too late now!" Jet teased them while Droy made kissy faces, and Levy stood there squealing in delight "Wait till the rest of the guild learns about you two lovebirds!"

Jet was immediately silenced when Erza summoned a sword and gave a glare that nearly made both him and Droy piss themselves "Tell anyone what you've seen, and I will make sure you won't live long enough to regret it!"

"Yes ma'm!" Both Jet and Droy squeaked out, before hiding behind the bushes and whispering to each other "So do you think Levy would kiss me like that?"

"Please, she's gonna kiss me!"

Levy then proceeded to drag Erza off and give her an impish grin "So you and Naruto eh? Never would have thought you had a thing for shangese guys."

"It was just a quick peck Levy!"

"It was 7 minutes long."

Meanwhile, Naruto just stood their in an almost catatonic state since they broke apart _'I just kissed...Erza-chan...THAT WAS SO WORTH EVERY JEWEL OF THAT REWARD!'_

* * *

Back at Fairy Tail, the guild partied and drank as usual, including Makarov who was on his third mug of beer "You're not going to beat me this time Macao! I swear it on my pride as Guild Master!"

"Careful Master, otherwise I'll be the Fourth before you know it!" Macao joked with the master and downed another mug, before he saw Wakaba come in with a bruised cheek and a written out message "You get shot down again Wakaba?"

"Yep, I swear this is why I'm never getting married. By the way Master, we just got another message from the council." Wakaba handed the paper to the tipsy Makarov, who almost immediately sobered up upon reading it.

"What do those blowhards want now?" Macao asked.

"Apparently that book stealing job in Shirotsume didn't go so well. Naruto accidentally destroyed the governor's mansion during a fight with some mercenaries from the Southern Wolves with his wind. Now the council's demanding compensation for the damages and a written apology from Master Makarov." Wakaba explained with a slight chuckle, before he and the rest of the guild burst out laughing.

"I knew that kid would fit right in!"

"Can't believe he screwed up that badly on his first job. Just goes to show you how rookies are." Gray laughed at the results, before Cana pointed something out to him.

"Gray, your clothes!"

While Gray began to freak out and scavenge for his missing clothes, Makarov broke from his stupor and cried in a mixture of frustration and misery "WHY DO THESE KIDS BREAK EVERYTHING?! I'M GOING TO CHEW THAT NARUTO UP AND SPIT HIM BACK OUT WHEN HE GETS BACK HERE!"

* * *

 **(A/N): I am so sorry that this chapter took so long, and it's actually been my top priority in writing for a good while now! It's just that I've started college recently, and that not only takes up most of my time, but also drains me of most of my energy and life force. I'll try to get the next chapter out a lot sooner next time. And since I know somebody's going to complain about Naruto being too weak in the reviews from my experience with Ninja of Santoryu, I'll say this now. Naruto is not going to be an expert right away with magic, and he's gonna get banged up a few times whenever he fights a strong opponent. Naruto will be a S-Class mage of Fairy Tail by the time the canon story begins, just keep that in mind.**

 **Now then, I've kept you guys waiting long enough. Please leave a review if you have any suggestions or just something nice to say, and I'll see you next time!**

 **. . .**


	3. New Faces

**Disclaimer:** **I don't own Fairy Tail or Naruto. If I did, then I wouldn't have just wish-washed on the pairings in the end.**

 **L: Please don't start a flame war Skillet.**

 **Chapter 3: New Faces**

* * *

To say things had not been going for well for Konohagakure no Sato as of late, due to Elder Council and Danzō Shimura having gone behind the backs of the Hokage and banished Naruto Uzumaki for injuries sustained by one Sasuke Uchiha upon being retrieved from his attempt to join the traitorous sannin Orochimaru. Despite his claims that Naruto had attacked him, Sasuke had escaped again with the assistance of Kabuto, fundamentally proving Naruto's innocence.

Of course, this wouldn't matter to the village which had wanted him gone for 13 years if it weren't for the plethora of negative side effects that came with it. For starters, once the people of the Land of Waves learned that their hero had been unjustly banished, Tazuna used his new influence over trade in Shang to cripple Konoha's trade. Other lands such as the Land of Tea, did the same thing, as the newly reigning family over Degarashi Port, the Wasabi family owed their existence to Naruto's help, resulting in Don Jirōchō using his friendship with the Tea Daimyo to cut off all business with the Land of Fire. The Land of Spring also isolated Konoha, refusing to involve itself in the filming or technological industry of Konoha anymore.

A combination of this lowered Konoha's stock, and caused the Fire Daimyo to reprimand them and slash their mission budget by 75%, resulting in a massive economic recession. Their military power also decreased, as the newly crowned Kazekage took Naruto's banishment as a personal insult and tore up the new peace treaty, before heading home and declaring that no one from Konoha would be allowed in Suna without his say so. Kumo also broke off relations, referring to the act of banishing someone for being a jinchuriki as a personal insult to the Raikage and his family. With Hizashi Hyuuga's sacrifice now for nothing, the Hyuuga clan angrily declared independence from Konoha and demanded a large sum of compensation, with many clans soon following.

Seeing as all their troubles could be traced back to Naruto's banishment, the Elder Council now fully supported the attempts of the sannin to find Naruto and reinstate him as a ninja of Konoha. This would be easier said than done however, as Naruto hadn't been seen in Shang since Gaara gave him a boat to the southern lands. It was thought that Naruto may have made landfall somewhere in Ishgar or Alakitasia, so an investigation was launched there. Despite the full cooperation of Emperor Spriggan and his government, the small remainder of Team 7 couldn't find Naruto anywhere in Alvarez.

Meanwhile, Team 8 and 10 assisted in the search in Ishgar despite their clans having formed settlements outside of Konoha as well, searching Veronica, Bosco, Seven, and Iceberg. Team Gai stayed put in Sunagakure with intent on assisting Gaara with his own search. Currently, the red-haired Kazekage was checking documents covering another possible location called Fiore "Ishgar is quite the interesting place. I'd like to know more about these mage guilds if I get the chance Kankuro."

"Focus on the task at hand Gaara, Naruto's still out there and we're running out of places he could be." Kankuro said as he brought in more files on Caelum and Minstrel, nations westward of Fiore.

"It's like finding a needle in a hay stack to be honest. Blonde hair and blue eyes are a lot more common amongst Ishgaran folk than they are here in Shang." Gaara said as he combed through the file on Fiore, before coming across someone that peaked his interest "I think we've found our guy. He's changed his clothes, but I could recognize him from a mile away. Yūra-san, notify Team Gai that we'll be heading to Fiore."

"Hai Kazekage-sama." Yūra followed the order and left the room to inform Team Gai of the good news. However, as soon as he was sure Gaara and Kankuro were out of earshot, he spoke into an earpiece he had hidden under his turban "Sasori-senpai, we've located the Kyuubi Jinchuriki. He's been hiding in Fiore!"

* * *

Being called to the Magic Council was something no mage wanted to happen to them, especially if you were apart of a guild as destructive and wild as Fairy Tail. This was the way Makarov was feeling as a result of the job that occurred not long ago in Shirotsume where Naruto destroyed the mansion belonging to the deposed Duke Everlue. The Magic Council demanded compensation for the damage as well as a written apology from the Master.

This apology was being delivered by Master Makarov, along with Naruto who'd been ordered to come and apologize for the damages in person, and Erza who'd decided to take a portion of the blame as well. To Makarov's confusion, Erza seemed to have been avoiding Naruto ever since they got back from Shirotsume, and she seemed to very embarrassed whenever they were close to each other. As a result, the trip to the Magic Council's Fiore branch was long and awkward.

"How could you have destroyed 50 million jewel in Magic Council property on such a simple job?" The Magic Council's chairman scolded Makarov as Naruto and Erza stood off to the side. Specifically with Erza standing at the opposite end of the room as Naruto. Makarov tried to come up with an explanation for the destruction, but only ended up stuttering in embarrassment "You'd better shape these hooligan brats up Makarov! Or else we'll be forced to take drastic measures. Court adjourned!"

While Crawford Seam drew the session to a close and Makarov had to deal with more of the Council's bureaucracy, Erza sighed in resignation before she noticed a familiar face walk by her and out the corridor of the court. Said familiar face was a young boy around her age with blue hair and a strange tattoo over his right eye, wearing a Rune Knight uniform. Almost immediately recognizing him, Erza suddenly ran out the room after him.

"Wait, Erza-chan? Where are you going?" Naruto yelled to his guildmate, before following her to find she was currently engaged in a fight with the blue haired youth.

The boy seemed to be well versed in Celestial Body Magic, and simply blocked Erza's blades with solar flares that he emitted from his fingertips as if it was nothing. Thinking that this stranger instigated the conversation, Naruto began to produce Wind Magic to help Erza fight. However, the fight was abruptly stopped when the boy asked "As much fun as I'm having with this, why are you intent on killing me?"

"Don't play dumb Jellal! You know what you did to me, what you've done to our friends! Wally, Millianna, Simon, Shou; where are they?" Erza screamed in anger as she pointed her sword in the boy's face.

However, despite these accusations he kept a stoic demeanor "I'm sorry, but you must be mistaking me for my brother Jellal. He was kidnapped by dark mages from Tartaros years ago, so it surprises me that he's still alive. My name is Private Siegrain Fernandes, I joined the Magic Council not long ago. If you could provide any information on the whereabouts of my brother or the remaining R-Systems that would be a great help Miss Scarlet."

"R-System? Tartaros? Jellal? I'm so confused right now!" Naruto tried to wrap his head around everything that Siegrain was saying.

"It's nothing you should be concerned Demon Brat. That is your name right? Me and Erza will just have to keep between us for the time being." Siegrain gave Erza an evil glare straight into her eyes that chilled the girl to her core, before walking off.

Hearing his old nickname from back in Konoha come up once again, plus the private's incredibly shady behavior rubbed Naruto the wrong way, resulting in him raising a fist and trying to attack Siegrain from behind "I'm gonna cream you, you bastard!" However, before he could catch up to him, Erza caught Naruto's arm and held it in place with a tight grip, letting Siegrain walk away with one more smug sideways glance.

Still incredibly miffed with the encounter, Naruto objected to Erza's action "What the hell Erza-chan! Don't you see that jerk deserves it for what he said to you!"

"Naruto, whatever happened between me and Siegrain in the past, it's just between us. Please just let it go and don't mention it to anyone in the guild, especially not the Master." Erza pleaded with the former shinobi. Understanding the seriousness of Erza's tone, Naruto reluctantly agreed.

"Naruto, Erza, get over here! There's someone I'd like you to meet!" Makarov called his children over out of the blue, causing both of them to freeze up at what the most likely angry master had in store for them. However, when they met with Makarov they saw that he had yet another stranger with them; this stranger was a boy a few years younger than either Naruto and Erza with spiky pink hair and beady onyx eyes. He wore a red coat and had a scaly white scarf wrapped around his neck, with a grumpy look on his face.

"Some Rune Knights found him wandering around the outskirts of some deserted town on the 7th. From what they could gather from him, his name his Natsu Dragneel and he claims to have been raised by a fire dragon named Igneel." Makarov explained the origins of the pink-haired boy, who reminded Naruto a lot of himself.

This spurred Naruto to try and introduce himself Natsu "I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm going to be the Master of Fairy Tail one day."

"...Are you strong?" Natsu immediately asked the wind mage "Because if you are, I'm totally gonna kick your ass in a fight!"

"Not another one!" Makarov screamed in horror when he realized the pink haired boy's attitude could lead to destructive problems in the future.

* * *

"This place is huge!" Natsu claimed as he laid eyes on the Fairy Tail guild hall for the first time "So this is a mage guild."

"Yep. The best and most destructive in all of Fiore!" Naruto claimed proudly as they got closer to the guild hall.

 _'That second one isn't exactly a good thing.'_

Natsu seemed to be very excited as he looked upon the guild hall, but found himself confused when he read the name "Kind of a weird name, don't you think Gramps?"

"It actually represents everything our guild stands for Natsu." Makarov began to explain the name "You see, no one really knows whether or not fairies have tails, or if they even exist for that matter. So unless we try to find out, it will always be a mystery. But that could become an exciting adventure! Those who join us are the ones who are willing to go on these types of adventures."

"I have no idea what you're trying to say, but it sounds awesome!" Natsu said with a large grin on his face.

"Come on in, we'll introduce you to everyone else." Makarov opened the large doors where the rest of the guild was drinking and looking for jobs "We're back everyone!"

"Master, Erza, Naruto! How much did the Council scream at you?" Macao made fun of what was likely a long and painful experience for them, before realizing there was a new guest amongst them "Who's the new kid? The ones we have not enough or something?"

"This is Natsu, he's a fire mage who claims to have been raised by a dragon." Makarov introduced the boy, who looked around the guild and saw several different people of all shapes and sizes going about their business. However, he quickly locked eyes in a harsh glare with Gray, who currently wearing nothing but his boxer shorts.

Gray noticed this, and responded threateningly "What's the matter, you got a problem with me or something?"

"What if I do?" Natsu growled at the young ice mage.

"Gray, your clothes!"

"CRAP!"

In response to seeing Gray's embarrassing habit for the first time, Natsu decided to mock him "You're some sort of pervert aren't you?"

"What did you say to me Pinky?"

"You heard me, you pretty boy streaker!"

"That's it, let's go!" Gray while preparing a magic circle for his Ice Make magic in the palm of his hands, while Natsu followed suit with his Fire Dragon Slayer magic. However, before the fight could progress any further, Erza had walked up to separate them, doing so by smacking them upside the head.

Gray understood to keep his mouth shut, having dealt with this sort of thing in the past. However, Natsu had only just met Erza and shot back "You wanna piece of me too Erza!"

"No, you idiot!" Gray hastily tried to hush up Natsu before Erza really got mad. However, this didn't work in time as they quickly found themselves imprinted painfully into the wall.

"No fighting, understood?"

" _Yes ma'm."_ Both boys groaned in pain as they fell from the wall, rubbing their bruised heads. After his vision returned it's blurry state, Natsu moaned "She's super scary."

"You got that right." Gray agreed as he rubbed the large bump on his head Erza had left behind. Noticing Naruto had approached to check on them, Gray said to the Wind Devil Slayer "Seriously Naruto, I have no idea what you see in her."

Worried that someone might hear, Naruto immediately covered Gray's mouth up "Shut up Gray!"

"Why, Jet and Droy already told everyone how you two were making out on that last job. Or are you just going to pretend that never happened?" Gray asked mockingly, while Natsu also understood a little more about Naruto's response.

"I see what's going on here! Naruto and Erza, sitting in a tree! K-I-S-S-I-N-"

 **"Wind Magic: Tempest Cannon"**

Then, for the second time that day Natsu and Gray had been imprinted into the wall.

* * *

To the members of the Fairy Tail guild, the time went by as fast as the wind, and a new year had already begun in the form of X778. Members such as Laxus, Erza, and Naruto had begun making names for themselves due to their destructive tendencies during jobs and their great magical power. While Naruto was somewhat fearful that this new reputation would allow Otogakure and the Akatsuki would track him to Fiore, but was still enjoying the amount of attention he was getting.

Natsu had gotten used to being at Fairy Tail and had made bonds with its mages, causing him to become an official member of the guild shortly after his arrival. He also made a bit of a habit of challenging the others to fights, such as Laxus, Naruto, Erza, and Gray. While he was equally matched with Gray, his fights with Naruto and Erza tended to end in regular defeats, and Laxus never bothered to pay attention to his requests.

Three new members also joined earlier that year, being the Strauss Siblings: Mirajane, Elfman, and Lisanna. Specializing in Take Over magic, they were ostracized by the locals who didn't understand their powers and run out of town a mere few days after their parents died. The eldest sister seemed to blame herself for this, due to having the most terrifying magic out of any of them. However, that didn't stop her from forming a rivalry with Erza only a few members understood.

Similarly, the rivalry between Natsu and Gray raged on like it did when Natsu first joined the guild. A regular sight for those passing by the guild on an ordinary day were the two trying to knock each other out with hard fisticuffs. One day in summer, Makarov was looking for Natsu "Hey Natsu, where are you?"

"He and Gray went outside again Jiisan. Probably going at it again." Naruto informed the frustrated Makarov while looking at the job request board. True to Naruto's words, Gray and Natsu were outside beating the crap out of each other while constantly spewing whatever insults came into their angry little heads.

"Lamebrain lizard!"

"Ice stripper!"

However, the fight quickly drew to a close when Erza intervened once again by pushing the boys apart "Knock it off boys, you're making a nuisances of yourselves."

"Mind your own business Erza!" Gray yelled in anger at their fight being interrupted.

"You wanna piece of me too Erza?" Natsu challenged the armored girl.

"If you insist." Erza smirked as both Natsu and Gray charged at her. This didn't end well for either of them, as within two seconds they were jumbled up in a bruised pile of limbs "No more pointless fighting from you two, okay?"

After Erza left the two of them in a painful position, Naruto approached from behind to see the results of the one sided fight "Did Erza-chan catch you guys fighting again?"

"She just got lucky is all! I'll win next time Naruto!" Natsu declared before giving the wind mage an evil glare "I'll prove it! You fight me right here!"

 **"Wind Magic: Tempest Cannon"**

Naruto wasn't exactly in the mood for another one of his guildmate's challenges and simply blew him away with a magical gust of wind. After this new one-sided fight drew to a close, Gray felt the need to ask Naruto "Hey, you've got Devil Slayer Magic right? How come I've never seen you use it in a fight?"

"Because the last time I did Jiisan yelled at me three hours straight for tearing down 5 acres of trees." Naruto sheepishly said as he remembered the last time he tried using the Kyuubi's magic in Magnolia.

* * *

Later that day, people went about their business in the guild as usual while either drinking, partying, or trying to find a good job to do. However, all attention was quickly brought to Natsu when he excitedly ran into the guild with a large white and blue egg "Hey everyone check out this cool egg I found!"

"Where in blazes that you find that thing Natsu?" Makarov asked, worried that the egg could hatch into something dangerous.

That thought never even crossed Natsu's mind though "I found it in the East Forest! I bet it's Igneel's kid!"

"Looks like you're good for something after all Natsu. I was just getting hungry too, so why don't you fry us up that egg?" Gray jokingly suggested, pissing the dragon slayer off.

"ARE YOU CRAZY, IT'S PROBABLY IGNEEL'S KID!" Natsu screamed in anger at the thought of the egg being eaten, before pointing out the blue marks on the egg "See, claw marks! It has to be a dragon's egg!"

In response to Natsu's reasoning, Naruto agreed "Can't argue with that logic!"

"Are you both stupid or something?"

"Hey, I've seen weirder!"

"So anyway Gramps, why don't you hatch it with a spell?" Natsu suggested to the guild master, who didn't seem very willing.

"Foolish child, you should know I can't do that. Using magic in such a way would be a disrespect to the miracle of life. If you want it to hatch you'll require patience and love, something no spell can offer on its own." Makarov tried to explain, to which Natsu just confusedly tilted his head "You'll understand when you're older child."

"He's saying that if you want it to hatch, you'll have to work for it. It would be a nice change of scenery for you Natsu." Erza tried to offer her own explanation. However, when a certain someone heard her voice, they immediately yelled in fury.

"I've been looking for you Erza!" Mirajane stood up from her chair and growled at her rival, with her younger siblings nearby "Why don't we pick up where we left of earlier?! Let's go!"

"We never did finish our match did we?!" Erza's face curled into a furious snarl, as she and Mirajane charged at each other and began viciously fighting each other .

"You're going down this time Erza!"

"I'll tear you to pieces!"

"Metal training bra!"

"Navel showing floozy!"

"Ugly prude!"

"Stupid cow!"

"Thunder thighs!"

"Granny hair!"

The other children of the guild watched the fight in a mix of fear and confusion, with Gray questioning "I'll never understand why she can tear apart the guild hall as much as she wants, but she'll put us in the ground when we fight."

"I just want to know why those two fight all the time." Naruto wondered aloud, with the others in disbelief at his obliviousness.

"You really are a clueless idiot aren't you Naruto?" Cana said blankly to him, before sighing "You'll understand one day I guess."

It was at this point when the fight between Erza and Mirajane had suddenly stopped, as the latter had heard Naruto talking to Gray and Cana, and excitedly ran up to him "Naruto-kun! I didn't know you made it to the guild hall yet! Why didn't you give me a heads up?"

"Um, I didn't see you here?"

"You're so funny Naruto-kun! Did you cut your hair or something, because you look really cute!" Mira blatantly flirted with the former shinobi, in spite of his almost super human obliviousness.

Erza however, knew exactly what she was up to and resumed attacking "Get away from him!"

"I have no idea what those two want with you Naruto, but one of these day's I'll give all three of you a beat down you won't ever forget!" Natsu declared, also not understanding why Erza and Mirajane were fighting.

However, Lisanna did understand and found Natsu's words cute "Give us a break Natsu, keep up the tough guy act and you'll never get the girls to like you!"

"Shut up Lisanna!"

"Don't be rude, I just wanted to know if you needed some help hatching the egg! I've never hatched a dragon before so it sounds like fun!" Lisanna said before continuing "We'll need to warm it up with body heat though."

Natsu grinned at the word heat, and began producing a small fire in his hands with magic "I've got plenty of body heat Lisanna!"

"Not that kind of body heat dummy! Let me handle this!" Lisanna scolded her friend before activating her specialty in Take Over Magic.

 **"Take Over: Animal Soul"**

In a flash of light, Lisanna had turned into a large bird to help warm up the egg, surprising and impressing those who weren't familiar with her style of magic "Birds are experts when it comes to hatchings eggs!"

"So is Natsu not getting that she likes him or?" Naruto whispered to Gray, who didn't seem to believe what he just said.

"You have no room to talk Naruto."

* * *

Things went well for the egg and it's adoptive family over the next few days, with the exception of a few hiccups such as a surprise attack from a goran. While most of the guild saw it as little more than a cute game between Natsu and Lisanna, some weren't as keen on the idea. This was especially true for Mirajane, who was furious at the thought of her baby sister befriending someone who she considered to be on Erza's team.

However, early one morning Natsu awoke in a panic when he found that the egg was missing from the small house Lisanna had built for it using her magic. As a result, he was now going around the guild accusing anyone he could think of stealing it "Alright which one of you took our egg!"

"Why would I want that dumb thing?" Gray asked, not realizing he'd stripped to his boxers once again.

"I don't know anything about it guys, sorry." Cana apologized to them before pointing out Gray's near nudity again "Gray, your clothes!"

While Gray panicked and began scavenging around the guild hall for his missing clothes, Natsu went to accuse the next person "Naruto, you took the dragon egg didn't you? Give it back or else!"

"Wha ah you talkin abow?" Naruto tried to ask, though it was mostly unintelligible from the mouthful of ramen he was eating for breakfast. Seeing the bowl of the traditionally Shangese dish immediately caused Natsu to begin panicking.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH! YOU FRIED IT UP AND PUT IN RAMEN DIDN'T YOU!"

After swallowing his mouthful, Naruto confusedly tried to explain as he had no clue what was going on "But this is pork ramen, not egg ramen."

"Don't be stupid Natsu, our egg was moving and it's impossible to eat a fertilized egg in most types of egg dishes." Lisanna offers a better alibi for Naruto, which seemed good enough for Natsu to accept. However, this didn't stop him from going around and accusing Laxus and Erza.

"Laxus, was it you?"

"Beat it kid."

"Erza?!"

"Don't jump to conclusions."

Running out of options, Lisanna tried to ask her older sister for any ideas "What about you Mira, have you seen it anywhere?"

"Nope." Mirajane plainly stated, before deciding to take the opportunity to tease Natsu a bit "Are you sure you didn't eat it yourself Natsu?"

This accusation caused another brawl, as Natsu angrily tacked Mira who ran right into Gray and knocked him into Naruto. This caused the former shinobi and the bowl of ramen he was eating to go tumbling to the floor. After getting up and wiping some of the ramen off of himself, Gray angrily yelled at the two of them "Watch where you're punching idiots!"

"You guys." Naruto growled as he stared down at his ruined breakfast "Do you guys have any idea how hard it is to come across my favorite food in Magnolia. It's only served once a week!"

"Calm down everybody!" Erza tried to satiate the situation, knowing they would probably end up using magic if things went much further.

All while the older members of the guild sat idly by and watched the fireworks "Those kids are nuts Master! Hate to see what things are gonna be like in a few years."

"Hey, you're the one who brought Naruto here, and he and Erza have already started wrecking stuff!" Wakaba reminded Macao of his decision 2 years ago.

Makarov however seemed much more comfortable with the fighting compared to Macao and Wakaba "These children only fight because they acknowledge each other and strive to improve, because they see themselves in one another. There shouldn't be anything to worry about."

"Why are you so mean? I just want the egg back." Natsu cried a little, even after Erza had managed to break up the fighting.

"Just give him the egg back!" Erza growled at Mira, suspecting her of taking it.

Mira wasn't nearly as convinced "Please, I bet you ate it Porky!"

"Hey Cana-san, wasn't Elfman telling us about how jealous he was of their egg earlier?" Naruto remembered a previous conversation they'd had with the demure boy earlier.

"You're right!"

"So Elfman ate it!" Natsu said in disbelief, shocked that the gentle Elfman would do such a thing. Said shock quickly turned into anger when Elfman appeared from behind "It was you Elfman?"

"Sorry guys, I didn't mean to steal it or anything! You just toss and turn in your sleep so much I was worried that it wouldn't get enough body heat, so I figured since I'm a big guy I could warm it up a bit myself!" Elfman explained himself, with the egg safe and sound in his arms.

"Thank you so much big brother!"

"Yeah, you're a real man!"

Before Elfman could hand over the egg back to Natsu and Lisanna, a large crack suddenly appeared near the top and it began rising into the air. After a few moments of shaking and breaking off what was left of the shell, a small blue cat with white wings flew into the air after hatching from the egg, to shock of everyone in the guild "IT'S A CAT?!" After a few moments of weakly gliding around the air, the newborn creature landed softly on Natsu's head.

"It's so cute!"

While the guild was crowded around its newborn mascot, another flying blue creature flew on to Elfman's shoulder "My parakeet's back! Hey buddy, remember me?" Had Elfman been a bit quicker, he would have caught a glimpse of Naruto who was now hiding behind a pillar with a bird cage in his hand.

However, Erza and Mirajane did manage to catch sight of him "So you got Elfman a new parakeet Naruto-kun?"

"Uh, well yeah, he was talking about how much he missed his old one earlier, and there are plenty in the woods nearby. So I just figured..." Naruto explained himself bashfully when he realized he'd been found out.

"Next time get your colors right dork, his parakeet was red." Mirajane said a large grin and a small blush on her face.

"See that, a minute ago everyone was all worked up and fighting, but now they're all happy again!" Lisanna realized upon looking at the present state of the guild "He's like a blue bird of happiness!"

"That settles it then, this little guy's name is Happy the Dragon!" Natsu proclaimed as he held the sleeping blue kitten, before remembering a question he'd wanted to ask Lisanna "By the way, can you tell Erza and Mirajane to stop trying to fight Naruto all the time! I'm the one who gets to beat him first!"

Lisanna giggled a bit at Natsu's misunderstanding, and tried to explain a bit better through the lens of her own childhood naiveté "Natsu, Mira and Erza don't always hang around Naruto because they wanna fight him. They do it because they wanna marry him!" While Lisanna's view on the situation was a bit exaggerated to say the least, Natsu was in complete shock at this a massive amount of pity for Naruto having the scariest people in the guild want to marry him, Natsu walked up and bowed his head.

"You poor poor man. I'll never forget your sacrifice!"

* * *

A few days later, Naruto had taken on another job with Gray to defeat a group of bandits who had been terrorizing a local village. However, as typical for the two of them the boys had also caused a lot of damage with their ice and wind, resulting in another scolding from Makarov upon their return "Naruto, Gray! What were you two thinking?! How come anytime either of you go out on even the simplest of job, you always cause more damage than the people your fighting?"

"They were part of Naked Mummy Jiisan, we couldn't exactly give them flowers and chocolate." Gray snarked while rubbing the large bump on his head that Makarov had left both him and Naruto.

"I still say that's a dumb name for any guild, dark or otherwise." Naruto yawned while scratching his head.

While Makarov was visibly annoyed with how nonchalant they were about the guild's destructive tendencies, he was quickly distracted when Team Shadow Gear came running in after their own job "Big news! Gildarts is back!"

"What?"

"Awesome!"

"Who?"

Several of the newer members such as Naruto, Natsu, and the Strauss Siblings had no idea what this meant and were very confused, especially when the church bells began ringing and the ground around the guild hall began to shift "Wait a minute, what's going on? Who's Gildarts?"

"Gildarts is the strongest mage in the guild, and ever since Ivan was excommunicated, the only S-class mage. He's known for taking high level S-class quests and recently went on a decade one. I'm surprised he's back so soon." Macao tried to explain to the newer members, not noticing the glum look on Cana and Laxus' face.

However, Natsu was still very confused "S-class...Ivan...wha?"

"S-class is a special kind of mage that can take restricted jobs on the top floor." Naruto briefly stated, having been able to gather that from his past information "I don't know how to become one, but I'll do it! That's the first step to becoming Master!"

"I bet I'll become one before either of you!" Natsu said to both Naruto and Gray.

"In your dreams!"

After a few minutes, the Magnolia Gildarts Shift had stopped and cleared a path for Gildarts to come through to the guild hall where most of the guild eagerly awaited his arrival. When he arrived, Naruto was surprised to see that he was a very sluggish looking man with neck length red hair and a scruffy looking face "Hey Master, how are you doing? I see you've been inviting a lot more kids into the guild. Let's see I remember Cana, Gray, Erza, Droy, Jet, and Levy. Who are the other rugrats?"

"I'm Natsu! Wanna fight old guy?"

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki, and I'm gonna be the Master of Fairy Tail! Dattebayo!"

"So we've got two more jumping beans? I bet you boys get along well with Gray. And are you from Shang?" Gilders asked Naruto, due to the rarity of anyone from Shang visiting the continent of Ishgar.

"Yep!"

"Mister Gildarts?" Lisanna got the older man's attention by tugging on his cloak "I'm Lisanna, and those two are my big brother and sister Elfman and Mira. The blue kitty is mine and Natsu's son, Happy the Dragon!"

"Hello sir, nice to meet you." Elfman politely greeted the older mage.

"Got some interesting new people here Master. I see the rest of you have grown up, especially you Laxus!" Gildarts said to the teenager sulking in the corner, before asking "By the way, where's your old man? He usually wants to thrown down with me first thing whenever I get back from a job!"

"Gildarts, Ivan is no longer a member of Fairy Tail. I'll explain more later, but you had good timing for what I had planned." Makarov said as he walked up to the front of the guild "We're reinstating the S-Class Trials! We've been short on the number of mages who can do S-class requests, so in one week we'll be holding an event that will help us pick one new S-class mage for our guild!"

The guild went silent at this news for a brief moment, before it went into yet another frenzy at the news "WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT?"

"I can be an S-class mage? Hah, I'm gonna kick everyone's butt in this exam!" Natsu excitedly said while hopping around the guild like a toddler.

However, Makarov's next announcement immediately deflated him "Only a select few from this guild will be joining us for this trial I'm afraid Natsu. This year I've picked six of you that have the potential to be considered S-class: Erza Scarlet, Laxus Dreyar, Macao Conbolt, Cana Alberona, Mirajane Strauss, and Naruto Uzumaki!"

"Awwwwwwww no fair." Natsu began to sulk when he learned he wouldn't be participating in the trials this year, along with an equally saddened Gray.

"How come Naruto's going when I can't? I've been in the guild longer!"

"We mustn't complain Gray, this is the Master's decision and we must respect it." Erza scolded Gray for his vocal objections.

"Easy for you to say, you actually got chosen!"

While the rest of the guild was in a bustle concerning the announcements, Naruto stood there pondering over the necklace that Tsunade had given him before his banishment _'This is it Baachan, I'm one step closer to achieving my new dream.'_

"Now then, for those participating I'll allow you one week to choose your partners for the trial, and for those not...better luck next time!" Makarov gave the last of his announcements before walking off and letting the guild discuss amongst themselves.

"Hey Naruto!" Natsu grabbed the former shinobi's attention "Can I be your partner for the S-Class trials? It sounds a lot better than sitting around the guild waiting for you guys to be done."

Not expecting someone to out right ask to be his partner in the trial, Naruto gave him a grin "Sure! Let's do this!"

* * *

"Yosh! This air feels great!" Lee said as he soaked in the scenery of Magnolia, having arrived there with the rest of his team a few days ago. Also there were the member of Team Asuma and the Kazekage's escort who had spent the past year scouring Fiore for their missing comrade. Reports of a notoriously destructive mage with whiskered cheeks led them directly to Magnolia "Naruto-kun?! Where are you?"

"You're not going to find him just by calling his name Lee, we need to find someone who knows him or has seen him first." Tenten said while going around showing people Naruto's picture as a Konoha genin and asking if they'd seen him.

However, Gai seemed much more enthusiastic about Lee's method of searching "You don't understand Tenten, Lee isn't merely calling out Naruto's name! His releasing his flames of youth like a glorious dragon in hopes that they will reach Naruto and beckon him to us! Naruto! We're here to bring you home!"

"Fools, I still they still haven't even considered that possibility."

"What possibility Neji-kun?" Tenten asked her teammate and lover.

"For all we know, Naruto could have spent the two years of his absence here, enough time to start a new life. And if that's the case he may not want to come back." Neji theorized, the mere possibility shocking Tenten.

"How could you say that Neji-kun? Naruto loves Konoha!"

"The Naruto we knew two years ago did. For all we know his banishment has killed any interest in the village he once called home; he might have even found a new dream to chase after. I'm just being realistic." Neji said grimly before showing a picture of Naruto to a young girl with short white hair "Excuse me miss, have you seen this man? We have a few questions for him."

"You must be old friends of Naruto's or something! Sorry but you just missed him, he went off to Hargeon with some of our other guild mates earlier this morning." Lisanna explained to Neji.

 _'Of course he did. But look on the bright side Neji, after all this time searching you have a definitive lead.'_

Lee having heard the conversation, decided to interject "Tell me miss, how do you know of our youthful friend?"

"He's gonna marry my big sister one day!"

...

"WHAT?!"

* * *

 **(A/N): WEN NATSU? NOW NATSU! Now that Natsu's made his definitive debut in the story you guys can stop asking me when he'll appear. But in all seriousness, I'm very sorry for yet another extensive wait on this story, as I had to restart Ninja of Santoryu for it's third arc, and focus on other projects including work and school. But now that the first major story arc is in full swing, you should have a bit more to look forward too.**

 **Sorry if I didn't develop Gildarts enough for his introduction, but I fully intend to in the chapters to come. Speaking of character development though, I found that I actually really enjoyed writing Mirajane and her crush on Naruto in this. I was intending for this to just be Naruto x Erza, and I don't like writing harems but I want to ask you guys: Should I keep the pairing the same, or change it to Naruto x Erza x Mirajane. I'll put a poll up on my profile for you to vote on, so vote on it before the next chapter comes out!**

 **Please click the** **review button if you're not gonna be a troll or a jackass, and if you like the story follow and favorite. See you next time!**

 **. . .**


	4. The Bitch of Blue Pegasus

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Fairy Tail. If I did then there wouldn't be nearly as many fake outs and Deus Ex Machina as there were in canon.**

 **Greed: Yeah, instead everyone dies like it's Game of Thrones or something.**

 **Skillet: Hey!**

 **Greed: Oh you know it's true! The death list for Arc 2 of Ninja of Santoryu was so long it reached the damn floor! And didn't even count the flashback deaths!**

 **Skillet: Hey, I haven't killed anyone off in this story!...Yet!**

 **First S-Class Trial Arc**

 **Chapter 4: The Bitch of Blue Pegasus**

* * *

While Lisanna was having her encounter with the shinobi of Konoha back in Magnolia, those chosen to take the S-Class trial were currently on the express train to Hargeon along with Makarov and Gildarts. Having been chosen by Naruto as his partner right off the bat, Natsu journeyed along with them but wasn't exactly happy about it. If for no other reason than his debilitating motion sickness " _Somebody_ _please get me off this thing. I think I'm dying!"_

"Bet you wish you'd picked someone else as your partner now eh Naruto?" Gray mocked them while midway through stripping out of his clothes in the middle of the train. Hearing Natsu was going to the trials by partnering with Naruto, the ice mage refused to be left behind and partnered up with Erza "If he's going to be like that the whole trial, then we've got this in the bag."

"Gray, don't be rude." Erza scolded her partner, before giving a glare to her own rival, who had stuck to Naruto's side ever since the train departed.

"Just so you know Naruto-kun, I'm not going to hold back during these trials. So if you have to fight me and Elfman, you're probably going to lose!" Mirajane gestured to her younger brother, who seemed to be a complete nervous wreck.

 _'He seems even sicker than Natsu.'_ Naruto thought as he saw the neurotic Elfman, before turning his attention to the more quiet candidates on the train ride, Laxus and Cana. Cana had chosen Levy for the S-class trial due to her knowledge potentially coming in handy, while Laxus chose another member named Freed for similar reasons _'I don't know much about this Freed guy, so I'll have to keep an eye out for him, and Laxus has never shown me his magic. I already know Cana and Levy are ridiculously strong too, and that's not even taking Erza-chan, Gray, and Mira into consideration.'_

"Hey Naruto, what's with the long face? I'm sure you'll do fine!" Macao patted Naruto on the head with a grin "Of course, not well enough to beat me and Wakaba but..."

 _'And then there's those two...'_

After a few more moments of those chosen to participate in the trial anxiously awaiting the start of the trial and trying to come up with a plan of action, the train slowed to a stop and signaled their arrival in Hargeon "Yeah baby! We're finally here! Get ready jerks cause me and Naruto are gonna kick all your asses!" Natsu immediately sprang back to life once the train stopped moving, and began hopping around the train.

Being equally as excited, Mirajane asked Makarov "So Master, now that we're here what will our first challenge be?"

"Oh, we're not actually at the site of the S-Class trial yet." Makarov nonchalantly said, pissing off everyone except for Gildarts "Did I forget to mention that?"

"KIND OF!"

"Don't worry children, we're just making a quick stop to meet up with some old friends of mine." Makarov explained as he led the S-class candidates off the train, though they all still seemed very irritated by the delay. This was especially true for Laxus, who gave his grandfather another hateful glare before stomping off the train.

"So who do you think we'll be meeting anyway?" Naruto wondered aloud, curious as to who would be so important as to suddenly stop them on their way.

"If their friends of the Master, their probably an old fossil too." Gray joked, before a strange smell filled the air "Hey, who bathed themselves in cheap cologne?"

"Calm down men, the S-Class trials will begin for you all very shortly. Meeeeeeen." A silky smooth voice came from nearby, from a short and ugly man wearing a white suit, joined by two handsome young men in black suits around Naruto's age, with one being brownish blonde hair and pale skin and the other having black hair and dark skin "We are of the Blue Pegasus guild, and we are also here for the S-class trials!"

Noticing the look on the terrified Erza's face, Natsu decided to ask " Hey Erza, who are these guys?"

"Those morons are Ichiya Kotokubi, Hibiki Lates, and Ren Akatsuki from the Blue Pegasus guild, an allied guild of Fairy Tail's." Naruto growled in irritation, also having a previous encounter with them. However, his face turned into that of horror when he felt a familiar presence sneak up behind him.

"Hello there Naruto-chan! You've certainly grown up in these past two years." Bob danced his way over and started hitting on the young men of the Fairy Tail guild, with the exception of Natsu who he discounted for being too young.

"YOU'RE SO CREEPY!"

"Down Bob, we're here to test our mages not make them piss themselves." Goldmine of Quatro Cerberus arrived and scolded his fellow guild master "Besides, Naruto already has his hands full with the ladies."

While Naruto didn't notice, Goldmine seemed to bring attention to the thunderous glares Erza and Mirajane had given Bob. It was then he introduced his own chosen mages, a boy around Erza and Mira's age who was clearly drunk and the other who was a large man with blue and white face paint and a black cloak "These boys are Bacchus Groh and Semmes Tops. They're all I'll be needing the take you down in today's trial."

"Hehe." Bacchus hicced and swayed around before his attention was brought to Erza and Mirajane, who he began to hit on his drunken state "Sup babes, why don't you ditch these losers and join Quatro Cerberus with me?"

While they would have smacked the drunken mage for this, Naruto and Elfman immediately got up in arms by displaying their Wind Devil Slayer Magic and Take Over magic "Stay away from my sister punk!"

"There's no way you're taking either of them teme!" Naruto growled, while Bacchus tried to push the ex-shinobi away.

"Let the grown ups have their fun gaki."

"I'M A YEAR OLDER THAN YOU!"

"So this what our guild has to worry about in these trials? Some drunk fools, a bunch of children, emo teenagers, and some old men?" A scantily clad green haired woman wearing a blue beret and a red overcoat made her presence known with a smug sneer directed towards the Fairy Tail candidates.

This smug attitude managed to piss of most of the guild, with the exception of Wakaba who merely gave her a lecherous glare "Oh wow, she's a Sorcerer Weekly centerfold Karen Lilica! This trial just keeps getting better and better!"

"You do realize she just insulted us right? And for that matter, where's your partner lady?" Macao asked, irritated with Karen's attitude.

"I don't exactly need one, I'm the strongest mage in Blue Pegasus all on my own!" Karen flipped her hair back before giving her opponents another arrogant glare "You brats should quit while you're ahead."

"Why you-" Naruto clenched his fists in anger, wanting to fight the celestial mage right then and there.

"Enough talk, we've got till high tide hits to get in and get out of the trial ground." Makarov said before telling his old friends "You're lucky you boys are former members of Fairy Tail, otherwise I wouldn't even consider something like this. Come, to Tenrou Island!"

* * *

"NAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO-KUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN! WE'RE HERE TO BRING YOU HOME!" Lee continued to run around Hargeon looking for his old friend along with Gai, while the other members of the team searched the normal way by asking for any sightings of him.

Having met up with Team 10 and Gaara's group once they'd made it to Hargeon, Team Gai continued asking for information with very little results "You're only going to scare him off by screaming like a lunatic Lee-san." Gaara told his former opponent while showing a 12 year old Naruto's picture to passersby.

"At least they're actually doing something to help!" Ino growled as she glared at her teammates, who were simply chowing down at a nearby restaurant or watching the clouds "Don't you idiots even want to bring Naruto back home or not?"

"It's not like I don't want to see him again, I'm just being realistic about our chances. From what we've heard, he's some sort of famous mage now, and considering how crappy everything went down for him back then he has every reason to stay in Ishgar." Shikamaru said bluntly which resulted in him getting smacked over the head by a pissed off Ino.

"Stop saying shit like that you stupid slacker! Did you forget how horrible Sakura felt after what happened?"

"Well, in case you've forgotten Ino, she called him every nasty word in the book after we did our job and brought back that traitor. Just because you've forgotten that doesn't mean the rest of the retrieval team have to." Neji scowled, angrily remembering the direct aftermath of the Sasuke Retrieval Mission two years ago.

Having no rebuttal, Ino turned to her other teammate for support "Chouji, don't you think Naruto is going to come back with us?"

"I dunno Ino." Chouji said while swallowing the cherry pie in his mouth "This is the best pie I've ever had!"

"This is the worst pie I've ever had!" A boy with spiky pink hair sitting on the stool next to Chouji. In response to their opposing statements, the ninja and the mage glared at each other before taking a large swig of their drinks.

"This drink is delicious!"

"This drink is awful!"

Realizing they'd just disagreed over the quality of their meal again, Natsu and Chouji gave each other another harsh glare "There's something wrong with your tastebuds gaki."

"Yeah? Well, I think there's something wrong with your big fat head!" Natsu replied before calling to a nearby waiter "Hey old guy, I'll take 50 of those steaks to go!"

Chouji also beckoned to the waiter with an evil look on his face "And I'll take 51 of those cherry pies!"

"Actually, make that 52 steaks!"

"53 pies!"

"54 steaks!"

"55 pies!"

"60 steaks!"

"70 pies!"

"80!"

"100!"

With their bizarre argument reaching its climax, Natsu and Chouji screamed while preparing for a bar fight "I'M GONNA BEAT THE LIVING CRAP OUT OF YOU!"

"Do you morons have the slightest idea what you're fighting about?!" Kankuro yelled in frustration at the two, as they were causing a scene around the bar.

"Chouji, we can't fight with our chakra delayed remember? And besides, we can't afford to buy 80 steaks!" Ino growled at her teammate, before she noticed something about the boy he was arguing with. Specifically the familiar red guild mark on his right shoulder "Shikamaru, isn't that the-"

"Hey kid, you're part of the Fairy Tail guild right? We're looking a member of your guild that looks like this." Shikamaru showed off the picture of the younger Naruto to Natsu, who immediately recognized the person in the photo.

However, before he had a chance to respond to Shikamaru, Gray and Naruto showed up from the crowd "Natsu, where have you been? The boats for Tenrou Island are about to depart!"

"Yeah, Flame Brain, we've been looking everywhere for you!" Gray growled at the Dragon Slayer, not noticing either the looks of shock from most of the Naruto Retrieval Team, or the look of attraction directed at him by Ino "If we end up getting disqualified because of you then-"

"WHAT THE HELL!" Naruto screamed in shock when he saw his former comrades and friends in front of him, completely silencing what would be yet another argument between Natsu and Gray. Before anyone could speak, Naruto grabbed his friends by their wrists and ran off as fast as possible in the opposite direction "COME ON GUYS! WE DON'T WANNA KEEP JIISAN WAITING ON US! DATTEBAYO! HAHAHAHAHAHAH!"

"What are you doing Naruto?"

"I haven't paid yet!"

"Hey wait, Naruto! We just want to..." Shikamaru tried to yell after his old friend, who had vanished as soon as he'd appeared "Troublesome."

"That sucks, we finally get a good lead on him after all these years and he just runs away from us. I'm thinking you may have been right Shikamaru." Chouji said sadly, which managed to snap Ino out of her boy crazy stupor induced by Gray and immediately pissed her off.

"Don't say stuff like that dumbass! Of course he wants to come back, he just doesn't want us to know how much...he's been slacking on ninja training while he was gone is all!" Ino tried to reassure himself, which gathered the attention of a passing fisherman.

"You guys talking about that blond fellow from Fairy Tail? Brings back memories to when I first fished him out of the ocean." The fisherman told them before bringing up something else that proved to be rather interesting "You know, some other Shangese folk were looking for him to. They had these strange black cloaks with red clouds painted on them, and one of them had a huge bandaged up sword."

While these men would only look like an odd pair of wanderers to the people of Fiore, those living on the continent of Shang immediately recognized the description. This compelled Gaara to ask "These men, where were they headed?"

* * *

Due to the strange lack of wind currents around Tenrou Island, those chosen to participate in the S-Class Trial between Fairy Tail, Blue Pegasus, and Quatro Cerberus were currently boiling hot and ready to keel over from thirst. The sole exceptions to this seemed to Natsu who enjoyed the heat, Bacchus who was to drunk to care, and Naruto who seemed to be in shock about what happened earlier. Gray tried to ask him what was the matter after they'd made it to the boats, but he seemed particularly evasive about the topic.

Natsu would also be pressing him for information, but he was to busy dry heaving over the side of the ship "Damnit this sucks, why is this boat so shaky?"

"Probably because of your motion sickness Natsu." Wakaba said while smoking his cigarette before approaching Erza "Hey Erza, do you know what's up with your boyfriend? He's been acting weird ever since they got back with Natsu."

"What? I don't know what Gray has been telling you but me and Naruto are not dating!"

"I remember when me and Macao first picked up that kid in Hargeon. It was a balmy 72 degrees with..."

While Wakaba rambled on to the uninterested Erza, Elfman and Mirajane looked at the scene, with the latter having an evil grin on her face "Everything is going according to my plan now!"

"Plan? What do you mean Mira?" Elfman asked his older sister.

"I offered Wakaba half the money I make on my next five jobs to distract Erza while we're on the way to the trial. This way I can spend time with Naruto-kun without any distraction!" Mirajane said excitedly, before she approached her crush who seemed to be in an almost catatonic state "What's up Naruto-kun?"

"Oh nothing Mira! I'm just excited for the S-Class Trial is all." Naruto tried to pass off his nervous shaking when he thought about why Konoha had shinobi in Fiore.

"Gray and Natsu were talking about something earlier, about some Shangese people who knew you. Those guys, they're from the village that kicked you out aren't they?" Mirajane managed to intuit this due to the information Naruto has previously given her about his past "You already told me about everything happened back then, so just spill it Naruto-kun!"

"Yeah, you're right. I don't know why they're here or anything, but I've got a bad feeling about it."

"Don't worry, if they want to hurt you or anything we can just kick their asses and be done with it!...Also." Mirajane tried to ask her crush with a deep red on her face "Did you have a girlfriend back in Shang?"

Needless to say, Naruto turned out to be very confused by this question "Well, there was this girl I kinda liked, but she always hated me. She made that pretty damn clear when I left two years ago. The only one she ever seemed to care about on our team was Sasuke."

"Sasuke? You mean that dick who tried to kill you on your last mission?"

"Yeah, he was really handsome and brooding and stuff, not to mention the top of our class. All the girls really seemed to like him, especially Sakura. But she and Sasuke never really treated me as an equal even after all the time we spent as a team together. They never bothered telling me important info, and if they did it was months after the fact." Naruto said somberly as he remembered his past with the members of Team 7.

"That bitch sounds like a real piece of work if you ask me Naruto-kun. She really wasn't worth your time if she'd treat you like that, and not notice a good thing in front of her. I mean I don't know what this Sasuke prick is like, but considering how he tried to kill a comrade his personality leaves a lot to be desired. Besides, you're the hottest guy in the guild so-" Mirajane immediately silenced herself when she realized she was extremely close to accidentally confessing her feelings to Naruto.

Luckily for her, Naruto was as dense as he was strong "Thanks for trying to cheer me up Mira."

"It's no problem Naruto." Mirajane said bashfully, before Makarov, Bob, and Goldmine gained the attention of their candidates.

"We're almost ready for our first trial kids, so look alive!" Makarov said as he pointed to the island where the S-Class Trial would be taking place; it was large and rocky looking with two layers to it's topography and a large tree that had taken root on the island that was its most noticeable feature "This is Tenrou Island, the burial ground of Fairy Tail's Founder, Mavis Vermillion."

"And you're going there dressed like that?" Gray asked Makarov about his tropical shirt, not noticing he'd stripped out of his own clothes once again.

"Gray, your clothes!"

"Mavis Vermillion, the first master." Naruto said in awe at the island before him, it reminding of his new dream like the Hokage Rock in Konoha used to remind him of his old one "I will become an S-class mage here today."

"Now then, for the first trial each guild will have the same thing. At the smoke signal on the shore you'll see several different paths, most of which will lead you to face your competition in combat. Whoever wins each fight will be allowed to move on to the second phase of the trial, which will unique based on each guild." Goldmine announced while pointing at a map of the groves that formed the paths.

"However, there will be one serenity route which will require peace of mind to pass. That should be pretty easy for you cuties though, so you mostly have to rely on luck to get that one. Normally we'd have extreme combat routes where you'd fight other S-class mages, but since we only have Gildarts it wouldn't really matter much." Bob continued the explanation before the boat suddenly dropped anchor in the middle of the ocean.

"Now then, don't dawdle! I want to be back in Magnolia by nightfall!"

* * *

"Alright! This gonna be awesome!" Natsu said as he and Naruto ran through one of the combat routes after having made it to Tenrou Island after getting a jet boost through the water through their wind and fire magic "I hope we chose the route with Gray and Erza!"

"I wanna fight that Bacchus jerk!" Naruto growled, remembering his previous encounter with the drunken mage. When they'd made it to the part where the two groves connected, they came across someone else who'd pissed someone off earlier.

Karen Lilica, who'd already had her Celestial spirit keys out and ready to go "So it looks like I'm fighting you brats? I was hoping that this would be quick so Master Bob would make me S-class already, so it looks like the stars are in my favor already."

"You know, people have always had a nasty habit of underestimating me and what I can do. And when that happens, I put them in the ground." Naruto slammed his fists together, while he and Natsu prepared to fight the arrogant celestial mage "You're Karen Lilica right? I can see you're living up to your nickname as the Bitch of Blue Pegasus!"

"Why you little brat! I'll make you eat those words!" Karen sneered at Naruto, before whipping out a silver key that would help her fight.

 **"Open, Gate of the Chisel: Caelum!"**

Once Karen unlocked the gate, a bizarre looking celestial spirit that resembled a metal sphere with a halo above it appeared from nowhere. While Naruto was familiar with Celestial Magic due to his mission to steal Daybreak, Natsu was surprised to see this "Wait a minute, where that robo-thing come from?"

"That's a celestial spirit!" Naruto immediately recognized the type of magic Karen was using.

"So you know this type of magic brat? Then you should know it would be in your best interests to surrender to me! My ability as a celestial mage is unparalleled, and it's what makes me much more powerful than a rookie like you." Karen said as she turned Caelum into its sword form which she proceeded charge Naruto with. However, the wind mage was able to figure out what her plan was in the time it took the spirit to transform and made his own plan of action.

 **"Open, Gate of the Maiden: Virgo!"**

Once Karen finished her swing towards Naruto, she'd realized that she'd hit nothing and that both of her opponents had suddenly vanished with only a few patches of misplaced dirt to indicate where they'd gone. Before she could react to the situation, Naruto had popped out of the ground with a spell at hand aimed right at her back.

 **"Wind Devil's Rasengan"**

Karen was just barely able to dodge the powered up red rasengan in Naruto's hand, giving him a smug glare as she side-stepped his attack "Nice try brat! I don't know how you got underground like that, but it will take more than that to trick me!"

"I know!" Naruto responded with a grin, before Natsu freed himself from the ground as well, sending a fist directed right at Karen's face.

 **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"**

"What?!" Karen only had a few seconds to block Natsu's attack with Caelum before he made contact, but she wasn't prepared for two sudden kicks to the back, one from a celestial spirit maid with pink hair who appeared from the ground along with Natsu, and a wind powered one that sent her painfully tumbling to the ground.

 **"Wind Devil's Southern Star"**

After managing to pull herself up from the ground and cracking her aching back, Karen glared at her younger opponents "You brats, how do you have a Golden Zodiac Key?"

"I got it after a job as part of a reward. Virgo's been a great help ever since." Naruto gestured to his loyal celestial spirit, who was a lot less bulky and younger looking than she was under Duke Everlue.

"Is it time for punishment Master Naruto?"

"Of course, I have no idea how to get her to stop saying stuff like that."

While Karen was even more furious with this at first, this quickly turned into another look of arrogance on her face before making a demand "Brat, hand over that key to me. I'm a supreme celestial mage, whereas you're just a rookie! It's wasted on someone like you, so why don't you just hand it over!"

 **"Fire Dragon's Wing Attack"**

Natsu didn't let Karen finish her demands, as he charged her with another strong attack, which she for some reason took head on by suddenly throwing her weapon away "If you want to talk, do it after we're through kicking your butt lady!" Karen didn't seem too intimidated by this though, as she evilly smiled in spite of the searing pain the attack was causing her. It was at this point Naruto realized what her plan was when he saw Caelum transforming again.

"Natsu, look out!"

Once Caelum had finished its transformation into a cannon, it charged a dangerous looking green beam which was aimed near Natsu and Karen. Then without warning, Karen tossed Natsu in the path of the laser, hitting him dead on and engulfing him in an explosion. The celestial mage admired her handiwork for a moment before facing Naruto "One down, one to go. Do you get why you can't beat me now brat? My skills are way more advanced than yours!"

"You talk to much lady." To Karen's surprise, Natsu easily got out of the fire with only a small scratch on his side, and ate the entirety of the flames "You're never going to beat us if you just keep using party tricks with that robo-thing of yours."

"Why you little." Karen growled before suddenly sending Caelum back and summoning a new spirit, which a shy looking girl with pink hair and horns wearing a white, fluffy dress.

 **"Open, Gate of the Ram: Aries!"**

"What did you summon me for m'am?" Aries asked, fearful of what Karen would do.

"Shut up! Clean up this trash for me Aries!"

"Oh really?" Naruto growled, a bit irked with how she was treating this new spirit "I think it's time we ended this, right Natsu?"

"You've got that right!" Natsu said as both him and his partner focused their attacks directly at Karen, who didn't seem to worried.

 **"Fire Dragon's Roar"**

 **"Wind Devil's Rage"**

Both attacks flew from their mouths and collided in midair, merging and strengthening their destructive capability while they flew straight at Karen. However, before the attacks could reach their target, Karen suddenly pulled Aries over and used her as a shield. Naruto gaped in shock as the celestial spirit screamed in pain, before the attack died out leaving Karen unharmed, while Aries had been severely beaten. Seeing her spirit had been beaten, Karen angrily through her to the ground "You little weakling! You should be able to handle more than a little magic from these two!"

"Hey!" Naruto angrily yelled at his opponent after seeing what she'd just done "What the hell do you think you're doing? How could you use one of your spirits as a shield like that?"

In response to Naruto's question, Karen merely smirked at her opponent "Why shouldn't I, celestial spirits are nothing but tools for a mage to use to their advantage. If they can't serve their master's will than they're little more than trash! If you were smart you would have thrown that spirit of yours in front of Caelum, then your little friend wouldn't have been hit."

"I wouldn't ever treat Virgo like that! Our contract is like a promise of equality between us, and I never break my promises even it kills me!" Naruto growled in anger while preparing another attack against Karen "Now I know why you're really called the Bitch of Blue Pegasus! It doesn't matter how many spirits you have, or how strong they are. I won't let myself lose to someone who would treat their allies so horribly!"

"And that's what makes you weak brat! This trial was over for you the moment it started! Close, Gate of the Ram" Karen sent the torn up Aries back to the Celestial World, before pulling out another Golden Zodiac key which she thought would help her handle whatever Naruto or Natsu had in store for her.

"Take this!"

 **"Wind Devil's Rail Gun"**

 **"Open, Gate of the Lion: Leo!"**

Naruto formed two Devil Slayer versions of his Tempest Cannon in his palms, and fired them at Karen with intent to end the fight right then and there. However, his attack was suddenly stopped when a well dressed man with spiky orange hair and sunglasses appeared in front of Karen and deflected the attack with a sudden flash of light from his body. Once his master was out of danger, Leo gave the women an icy glare "I saw the state Aries was when she came back to the Celestial World. You'd better have a damn good explanation for this."

"Hey, if you're looking for someone to blame, blame the brats. They were the ones attacking so I had to use her to defend myself." Karen casually explained to her strongest spirit.

While Leo still seemed very angry with Karen as he was stranger to this sort of behavior from her, he focused his attentions back to Naruto, Natsu, and Virgo "As a celestial spirit, I'm bound to the will of my master for every job and every fight. You should know that I won't be holding back."

"Neither will we lion guy! Bring it on!" Natsu said to Leo, only for the spirit to suddenly appear right behind him.

"As you wish."

 **"Lion Brilliance"**

Before Natsu managed to react to Leo's movements, the Lion Spirit had already sent a strong wave of solid light right into his back and sent him flying. Leo prepared to perform his next attack on Naruto, only for Virgo to pop out of the ground in front of him and try to deliver a hard roundhouse kick to his head "I'm sorry for the trouble Leo, but I can't let you bring harm to Master Naruto!"

"Right back at you Virgo! Looking good by the way!" Leo said while preparing to lay down another attack on her after she'd missed.

 **"Regulus Impact"  
**

After Virgo was launched back the lion shaped ball of fire, Naruto moved like lightning in order to catch her before she could hit the ground. However, Leo followed up with another spell directed at Naruto and the injured Virgo, only for Natsu to intervene and eat it whole. The Dragon Slayer proceeded to counterattack with a mighty roar directed straight at Leo.

 **"Regulus Impact"**

 **"Fire Dragon's Roar"**

Once the attacks collided with each other, Leo swept around Natsu and began fighting him with close combat for a brief period of time before gathering enough light from the area around him to make a small claw. However, Leo was prepared for Natsu to dodge this as well and blinded him with a flash of light before impaling the Dragon Slayer's forearm with the claw of solid light.

 **"Lion Brilliance"**

 **"Paw of the Pride"**

"Natsu!" Naruto screamed in horror as he saw his partner's arm go limp.

"That's it Leo! Now take out the other brat's celestial spirit! Show no mercy!" Karen ordered Leo, which managed to horrify both him and Naruto.

While Leo looked like he was about to refuse the order, he quickly remembered what defying a direct order could entail if the Celestial Spirit King ever found out or what Karen would do to Aries, and gave Virgo a sad look "Virgo, please forgive me for this!"

 **"Regulus Gatling Impact"**

Leo had to physically force himself to attack his fellow member of the zodiac by running up and focusing Regulus energy into his fists, only for Naruto to intervene at the last moment by taking the hit for Virgo. Naruto had no time to come up with a counterattack and was hit head on by dozens of Leo's hits at once before being rocketed back into the trees. It was then that Virgo's gate was forcibly closed the to lack of magical power on Naruto's part.

Seeing her opponents on the brink of defeat, Karen put her hand up to her mouth and gave out a loud noblewoman's laugh "Do you brats get it now, my usage of the tools known as celestial spirits is superior to all other forms of magic. You never stood a chance of beating me from the start. Now if you excuse me I'll be taking my prize." Karen immediately reached to steal Virgo's key from Naruto's side, only for the Devil Slayer to suddenly move and grab her before she could.

"I won't ever let you take her...and treat her like you treat Aries and Leo...Virgo isn't just a tool to me...She's my friend!" Naruto dug his fingernails into Karen's skin to prevent her from moving, in spite of the fact that she was now harshly kicking him.

"You little fool! A golden zodiac key is far to valuable to be in the hands of a novice like you! They should belong to an elite like me." Karen kept digging her feet into Naruto's side, not noticing that he had been eating the air around them, or that Natsu was getting back up in spite of his gored arm.

However, Leo did notice and prepared to clash with Natsu again "You kids are tough, I give you that."

"We're a lot tougher than you jerks think we are." Natsu focused all of his magical power into the arm that wasn't wounded and prepared to finish off the celestial spirit, while Leo followed suit and gathered energy into a golden magic circle.

 _"I won't ever let you take her...and treat her like you treat Aries and Leo...Virgo isn't just a tool to me...She's my friend!"_

However, before Leo could perform his spell, Naruto's words echoed into his head _'No, I can't fight someone like that.'_

 **"Fire Dragon's Iron Fist"**

With Leo suddenly turning off his magical power and stopping dead in his tracks, Natsu took the opportunity and struck Leo straight in the gut with all his might, bringing the spirit to his knees. This turn of events shocked Karen, who lividly screamed at Leo for his defeat "Leo, what do you think you're doing." While Karen was distracted by the sudden failure of her strongest spirit, Naruto took the opportunity to use his regained strength to attack.

 **"Wind Devil's Rasengan"**

Karen barely had time to dodge, with the increased strength of Naruto's spell leaving what would ordinarily be a small scratch a large cut on Karen's normally fair face from the graze "Why you little-"

 **"Wind Devil's Southern Star"**

Naruto kicked Karen high into the air with his wind powered leg, before focusing his magical power into his palms and aiming at the midair celestial mage as she screamed in a mixture of rage and terror "You used Leo as a shield earlier and missed this attack! I think you should have a taste!"

 **"Wind Devil's Rail Gun!"**

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!" Karen was blasted head on by Naruto's wind and blown straight out of the sky, before landing a few moments in a crumpled and defeated heap.

"Dattebayo." Naruto growled as he looked down at his defeated opponent, before realizing the gate sealing off the path had been undone upon Karen's defeat "Hey Natsu, you okay? I brought some bandages just in case, so I should be able to take care of that arm of yours."

"Got it, but first we've got to take care of this guy." Natsu said as he saw Leo stand back up.

"It's fine, I've only gotta fight you as long as Karen's capable of standing. Now that you've defeated her we've got no reason to continue this fight." Leo explained before preparing to head back to the Celestial World "I should be going now, Karen's not going to be happy when she wakes up.

"Wait, I may not be much of a celestial mage or anything, but why don't you and the others make a contract with me?" Naruto asked Leo "I know Blue Pegasus is cool and all, but it probably isn't worth dealing with the bitch over there. And Fairy Tail is always willing and ready for new members!"

Leo seemed to consider the offer for a moment, but decided against it "Sorry but no, our contracts with Karen are ironclad unless she's incapacitated, killed, or breaks them herself. But just for the record, you're already twice the mage she ever was." With that Leo vanished into thin air, leaving Naruto and Natsu alone.

It was then that the full gravity of the situation hit the two of them, and Naruto began giggling with happiness "Natsu, I think I just came one step closer to becoming an S-class mage of Fairy Tail!"

"Yeah! Let's go beat up everyone else now!" Natsu happily declared with his usable arm high in the air.

* * *

Back on the other side of the groves, the leaders and current S-Class of the Allied Guilds along with those who'd passed their trials waited patiently for the final path to declare its victor and for them to arrive so the exam could resume. Elfman and Mirajane had no injuries whatsoever from their trial, as they were lucky enough to have chosen the serenity route, while Gray and Erza had a few minor scratches from their fight.

Laxus and Freed likewise, were a bit roughed up along with Bacchus and Semmes; all of them waited patiently for the final victor to arrive, with it either being Naruto and Natsu of Fairy Tail, or Karen of Blue Pegasus. Erza was beginning to get anxious waiting for the result's of her crush's match "Naruto-kun's been gone awhile, he better not have lost to that hussy."

"Man, I thought he had it bad for you Erza. Behind that armor, you're pretty gaga for Naruto." Gray said, easily being able to see through Erza's feelings for the former shinobi.

"Don't be ridiculous Gray! Naruto is just a friend of mine like everyone else in the guild." Erza tried to get the idea out of Gray's head, though the ice make mage wasn't convinced in the slightest.

In fact, he was even more convinced than he was before now "You're acting like you didn't give the guy your first kiss. Look, all I'm saying is that it's pretty clear there's a mutual thing going on between the two of you, but unless you want to lose him you'd better be quick. Because Mira's got her eye on him to, and I have a feeling it's starting to work."

"WHAT?!...I-Ii mean, there's no way Naruto-kun and Mira have any chemistry. It's not as if Naruto was like a pariah for something he couldn't control like Mira was or-" Erza tried to reason with both herself and Gray, before remembering what Naruto had told her about his past "Oh."

Before Gray and Erza could continue their conversation any further, the remaining participants in the trial saw what looked like two figures coming out of the sole remaining grove. This Naruto with the beaten up Natsu draped around his arm, both with large grins on their faces "So, did we make it in time?"

"Naruto-kun!" Mirajane immediately glomped Naruto when she saw him come out, managing to piss of Erza who requiped a large sword into her hands.

"Hey, flame brain! You look pretty beaten up, you sure Naruto didn't do all the work for you?" Gray mocked his rival for the beaten up state he was in, pissing Natsu off once again.

"Watch it Ice Stripper! I don't think you did any better than me!"

"At least I'm not bandaged up like a mummy, Microwave Oven!"

"Mini-Fridge!"

"Matchstick!"

"Ice cube!"

"That's enough boys! Save the fighting for the rest of the trial." Erza separated Natsu and Gray before they could get physical, before she approached Naruto with a small but noticeable blush on her face "I knew you could do it Naruto-kun."

Also blushing, Naruto replied "Thanks Erza-chan."

"Let's see, Laxus and Freed defeated Cana and Levy, Macao and Wakaba fell to Bacchus and Semmes, Naruto and Natsu beat Karen, and the Trimens were knocked out by Erza and Gray. Meanwhile, Mirajane and Elfman took the serenity route and avoided fighting." Makarov judged those who made it through, while Bob was depressed that no one from his guild made it through "Let's see, we've got everyone here. Time to announce the final part of your trial. Fairy Tail, come with me and Gildarts if you please; Quatro Cerberus, stay with Master Goldmine for your challenge."

The remaining S-class candidates from Fairy Tail followed Makarov to a small clearing in the forest not from where they just were, before the old man revealed their next challenge "Somewhere on this island is the gravesite of Mavis Vermillion, one of our founders and first master. Gildarts will be waiting there to award whoever finds it first with the title of S-class."

"Wait, it's that simple? No giant killer crabs or anything?" Gray asked, sounding a little disappointed in the task's simplicity.

That is until he was dragged off by Erza however "Don't complain Gray, we just have to find the grave before anyone else does."

"Hey Natsu, are you okay to go on? You can't exactly fight with your arm like that." Naruto pointed to Natsu's arm that had previously been damaged by Leo.

"We're just finding a grave Naruto. It's not as if we're going to have to fight anyone on the way there or anything." Natsu responded to his partner's concerns while the teams dispersed outward on their own search for the gravesite of Mavis Vermillion.

However, once he was sure all of them were gone Makarov grew a look of thunder and spoke to a previously unseen enemy "I know you're here. Come out right now and I may be kind enough not to snap your neck."

"Your reputation is not without Makarov Dreyar. I see why you hold the fifth seat on the Ten Wizard Saints." A man in a swirled orange mask growled in a deep voice as he appeared from the trees of the forest "I presume you know what we came for."

* * *

"Man this is boring, I can't believe I came all the way back here only to be put on groundskeeper duty by the old man." Gildarts moaned in boredom as he paced around Mavis' gravesite, waiting for someone to find him "Still, Makarov's picked up some good kids. I can't wait to see which one will lead the guild in the next generation."

Gildarts was broke from his thoughts when he heard the sound of rustling from beyond the tree-line. Knowing that none of the participants could have found him that quickly, Gildarts yelled "Whoever you are, come out! I don't recognize your magic."

"That's because I don't need the magic this land is so proud of." A shark like man with a large bandaged sword on his back came from the woods "We know the Kyuubi Jinchuriki is part of your guild fairy. Unless you want the Akatsuki to tear you apart, I recommend you hand him over without a fight."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'll be damned if we let anyone take a member of our guild away." Gildarts immediately reached for the red flare at his side, and fired it into the sky, signaling Condition Red "Now everyone knows you're here."

Kisame merely grinned at the S-class mage's words "Good!"

* * *

Naruto and Natsu walked through the forest looking for the gravesite, behaving as they normally did "Can you believe that Ice jerk, acting like he's better than me?"

"You know, you two remind me of something I went through a while ago. I just hope things go better between you and Gray than it did between me and him." Naruto remembered his past and ill-fated rivalry between himself and Sasuke.

This brief mention of Naruto's history reminded Natsu of something he'd meant to ask him previously "By the way, how did those guys from earlier know you? I mean, you're from Shang and they were dressed like they were from Shang so..."

"It's nothing Natsu."

"But they were looking for you. I mean they knew your name and had a photo of you so..." Natsu suddenly stopped when he noticed the large red light in the sky above them "Hey Naruto, what's with that red stuff up there? Think it's part of the trial?"

Naruto looked at the light in the sky and gaped when he remembered what the light meant from what Makarov had told them a week before "Condition Red! There are intruders on the island! They may be from a dark guild like Burningbane Goblin or the Southern Wolves or something!"

"Not quite #9-san." A chillingly stoic voice said, one that Naruto immediately recognized and froze in horror at the sound of. This voice belonged to a man in a black cloak with red clouds, with long black hair he'd kept tied back in a ponytail and long tear troughs coming his eyes "Your old friends from Konoha should have been more discreet when looking for you, because they us right to you. If you truly care about these people, I'd suggest you surrender before we're forced to take drastic measures."

* * *

 **(A/N): Look alive people, because shit has officially hit the fan! I bet you're surprised by such a fast update on this story after the last two took like half a year aren't you? Well, I've been another big Fairy Tail kick lately so that might have something to do with it. But don't get too excited though, as I've still got to focus on my other stories besides this as well. What I can say about next chapter is that it will be the first serious challenge Naruto will as part of Fairy Tail in this story, which judging by what I have later on is saying a lot.**

 **Meanwhile, concerning the pairing...I am surprised by how much reception just suggesting a change got! I mean, damn I'm at almost a hundred within 3 chapters! However, unless there's a huge upset between this chapter and the next, it looks like I'll be changing the pairing to Naruto x Erza x Mirajane. I'm actually interested in what this could add to the story, but don't think I'll be starting a harem or anything. This will be the final change in the main pairing.**

 **I'm sorry if you voted to keep the pairing the same, and I hope that the likely change won't hamper your enjoyment. Just stick with me for now and I promise to make it worth your while. Please leave a review if you're not gonna be a prick, and if you want to see more, follow and favorite. See you next time!**

 **. . .**


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